


He Can Play Anything

by MasterQwertster



Category: One Piece
Genre: Appreciate our skeleton musician, Character Study, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Drabble Collection, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-11
Updated: 2020-10-12
Packaged: 2021-03-07 23:15:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 98
Words: 68,451
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26955697
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MasterQwertster/pseuds/MasterQwertster
Summary: A master musician is always ready to play. Any instrument, any song, any time, because he can play absolutely anything.Drabble-ish things about Brook that you didn't realize you needed.
Relationships: Brook & Mugiwara Kaizoku | Strawhat Pirates
Comments: 23
Kudos: 28





	1. Lullaby of the Soul

Brook does not mind sharing his bunk when people climb into it at night.

He was surprised the first time he stirred at night to find his captain using his ribcage as a pillow while spread across both their bunks. He was new to the crew, having only left Thriller Bark two days ago, and probably the most frightening in casual appearance (not that it ever seemed to bother Luffy) so he didn't find himself to be the best impromptu pillow their captain could claim. After all, his truly bony chest couldn't be comfortable, could it? Then he remembered that Luffy is rubber and if blunt attacks don't bother him, the cushion of his resting place is probably inconsequential.

And besides, he didn't have the heart to push his captain off. None of the crew would, they adore their captain too much, but it's doubly impossible for Brook because after fifty years alone, when his eyes and ears (not that he actually had either, Yohohoho) could be tricked by a longing heart, a comforting touch was too _real_ to turn away. So for that night, Brook was Luffy's pillow.

It is only after their two years apart that it becomes almost regular to find someone sharing his bunk with him.

Luffy seems to spill over into his bunk roughly every other night for the first week before mellowing out to once every three days or so. It's just often enough of an occurrence that Brook leaves a spot the width of Luffy's shoulders open in his bunk because while he appreciates his captain's closeness two years of scheduled Rockstar life leave him wanting a cup of tea at roughly five every morning. Something he can't really get up and have when he's Luffy's pillow until the scent of breakfast wafts through the ship. The arrangement seems to work well, Luffy still spills into his bunk, but Brook can get up for that early cup of tea without bothering his captain. And if he gets an occasional hand in the face, well, Brook's not one to complain.

The surprise comes when one night Brook wakes to find Zoro nestled into that empty spot, legs hanging into the air, a hand on Brook's head, and head in Luffy's bunk. It had never occurred to him that their first mate would ever seek the comfort of sharing a bunk (he half suspected that Luffy just rolled into his in his sleep), but it's obviously the case since Zoro usually sleeps in the bunk below Brook, meaning the swordsman decided to climb up. It's strange, since Zoro always appears so strong, but Brook isn't one to pry and if Zoro wants to sleep in that spot, he won't stop him. It had been a rough day and likely everyone could use a bit of that closeness.

The next to appear in what Brook was starting to refer to as his "free spot" was Sanji. A surprise for sure with Sanji's personality and shrugging away from comforting intimate contact with men. But like with Zoro, Brook was not one to deny or pry. At this point, he had decided that if the young men who shouldered the heaviest battle burden of the crew needed to share a bunk with the oldest to get that weight off their shoulders every now and then, he'd be more than happy to oblige.

It was only after Dressrosa, when Usopp had taken the free spot, that Brook began to suspect there was something else drawing the young men to sleep that little bit closer. After all, the common factor was no longer battle strength, but awakened Haki. Still, he wasn't going to push them out. Though he was dying (oh wait, he's already dead, Yohohoho) to know why Haki was the requirement for claiming the free spot for the night.

Brook considered asking Luffy. His captain wouldn't feel any shame for having committed such an action and was always honest, but he was also the only one that could just shuffle and roll into the spot while asleep since they both had top bunks. Sanji was unlikely to even admit to being in the same bed as another full-grown man, so questioning him would get nowhere. Usopp, while not as bad as Sanji, would still be self-conscious, so it was a 50-50 chance he might lie about the reason. Which left Zoro, who probably wouldn't explain it in the hearing range of others, but would answer honestly, even if the answer was sparse.

It was not the kind of answer Brook expected.

" 'cause when you're sleeping, your 'Voice' is a good lullaby."

If he could have, Brook would have blinked at the answer. It was his understanding that Kenbunshoku Haki located the presence of others and allowed one to predict another's attacks, so how could his "Voice" be a lullaby?

A bit of prodding got the first mate to explain that Kenbunshoku Haki also allowed one to hear strong emotions, an inner voice of sorts, and Brook's was communicated as a constant medley of music. It matched his mood or whatever he happened to be physically playing at any given moment. The Haki users climbed into the free space because they were having trouble sleeping and Brook's 'Voice' in sleep was a gentle lullaby that soothed the restless soul to sleep, especially at close range.

Brook can't help but find that tidbit fascinating. He's always known he's a musician down to his bones (ah, he's nothing but bones, Yohohoho), but to find out that this "voice" of his is always playing is amazing confirmation. He wonders if he will ever be able to listen to his own voice or if it will be a pleasure only heard by others (he's certain the whole crew will eventually learn Haki, out of necessity if nothing else). Even if he can't enjoy that music, he wouldn't dream of denying others the opportunity to listen.

So Brook does not mind sharing his bunk when others climb into it at night because he loves his crew and will always be happy to share the lullaby of his soul.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was half inspired by a panel pulled from chapter 699, and the head canon I have that Brook's voice via haki is music. I don't know, it was just fluffy nakamaship based around Brook.


	2. Bottles and Glasses

The seas were calm. A rarity in the Grand Line, much less the New World.

Except it had been calm for the past five days with little wind to move them and by Nami's estimation would remain that way for another day or two. All of which meant that the Straw Hats's beloved captain had become bored. Not an uncommon occurrence, their young captain had the attention span of a goldfish some days, but keeping him properly entertained for extended periods without the demands of the wild Grand Line weather to grab his attention and earn them a break was taking its toll.

So Luffy got into trouble. He bothered Sanji in the kitchen, bugged Zoro while napping or training, pestered Nami and Robin in the library, made something explode in Franky and Usopp's workshop, and was subsequently checked over by Chopper for the third time in as many hours.

Brook was the only one unbothered by their captain's bored antics, but then again, he hardly ever was. After all, boredom was his call to arms as the crew's musician and Brook could normally rein in and keep Luffy entertained with good music for an afternoon with no problem. The boy loved music and Brook could play for days without repeating a song. The problem was that Luffy liked to do things, so music could only keep him out of trouble for so long before faded into the background instead of staying the main attraction. A point they had well reached by day three.

So after what most of the crew felt was a long day, Brook had volunteered for a long watch to let them rest as he had far less need for sleep than them. It was also a good opportunity to put into motion an idea for tomorrow's entertainment that would hopefully corral their captain without spoiling the surprise of it.

The next day after lunch, Brook waited for Luffy to get bored of fishing, something Sanji had requested to help keep the food stock up. It took about an hour of no bites for the young captain to start poking and pestering his fellow fishers and Brook knew it was show time.

"Luffy-san, if you'd like something to do, would you get those crates from near the galley door and bring them down to the lawn?" Luffy jumped up eagerly and dashed over. "Ah, wait! The contents are fragile, so bring them over carefully, okay? Usopp-san, Chopper-san, why don't you help him?"

It didn't take the young trio long to bring the crates over.

"So what's in here anyways, Brook?" Usopp asked, gently setting down the last crate.

"Yeah! They were kind of heavy," Chopper chirps, bouncing in anticipation almost as much as Luffy.

"Yohohoho! Why it's a little surprise I made for you last night," Brook replied, opening a crate and lining up the old cola bottles with varying levels of water on the grass.

"But those are just bottles with water, Brook!" Luffy whined upon seeing the contents of the crates. "That's not fun!"

"Oh, but these are special bottles. Watch."

Brook leaned over and blew across the top of a bottle, creating deep thrumming sound. Then he switched bottles, creating the same sound at a different pitch, and soon enough the familiar tune of Binks's Sake was coming from the bottles.

"That was AWESOME!" the trio cheered, eyes shining as the song ended.

"Yohohoho! I thought you'd like that. You can play if you'd like, I prepared lots of bottles," Brook informed them, unloading the other crates.

"Cool! We get to play mystery bottles!" Luffy cheered and they started playing right away, laughing in delight at the different notes from piping high to thrumming low.

"So that's why you wanted my empty cola bottles last night," Franky stated as he watched the kids of the crew play.

"Mmm," Brook hummed in the affirmative. "It's simple and interactive. Just right for Luffy-san, don't you think?"

"Oh yeah, and it's pretty super!" Franky said with a laugh. "How'd you come up with something like this?"

"Oh, I didn't. It was part of something I once saw long ago. You see, back when I was alive and with the Rumbar Pirates, there was this one group in a town we visited who had the strangest instruments! They were making music with old crates and barrels, trash cans, buckets, bottles, pots and pans. Why they even used brooms! It was so different and creative and I remember wanting to try something like that some time. So here we are." Brook gestured to the boys and bottles.

"My, that does sound interesting."

"Ah, Robin-san," Brook looked back to the upper deck to see Robin leaning on the railing. "You're free to try playing as well, if you'd like."

"I might. It's certainly a very different sound compared to your usual instruments. It sounds like winds blowing through ghost towns."

"Please don't say things like that, Robin-san. You know I don't like ghosts."

"Well hey, if you want to try some other super different instrument, I'll see what I can do," Franky offered.

"Yohoho, that's very kind of you, Franky-san. Although, if there was one unconventional instrument I'd like to try, it would be crystal wine glasses," Brook said wistfully.

"Crystal wine glasses?" Robin and Franky asked.

"Oh yes. It's very similar to the bottles here, except instead of blowing on them, you rub your wet finger around the edge. The resonance of the crystal glass makes a lovely, airy sound. Yohoho, it's actually a good way to see if the wine glass is real crystal or not since it doesn't work with regular glass," Brook explained. "Though I'm afraid I've missed my chance. My fingers are all bone now, more likely to scrape and screech on the glass than play it."

Robin watched as Brook wandered over to the boys among the bottles to bring some semblance of order to their music making while Franky joined in. She then left for the kitchen.

Dinner was as loud a mess as always and the topic of the night was how much fun the three youngest and two oldest crew members had had playing "Brook's mystery bottles" as Luffy had dubbed them. The crew was content because today had been peaceful with their captain entertained and Brook got a little praise for achieving that from everyone. It warmed his heart (not that he had one, Yohohoho). So he was more than a little surprised and confused when after dinner and dessert, Sanji brought out a platter of wine glasses filled with water.

"What's this?" Brook asked.

"You can't tell? I heard it was your idea earlier this afternoon, you shitty skeleton," Sanji said.

Brook was still a moment, then chuckled. "I suppose it was, but as you may not have heard, I'm afraid my boney fingers won't do. After all, they're nothing but bones, yohohoho!"

"I heard and I think I can fix that for a little while," Robin said with a coy smile. "Dos Fleur." Brook watched as shorter fingers sprouted out from the underside of his pointer fingers. "It might be a little awkward, but it should work, right?"

"Yohohoho, well, since you've gone through all this trouble, it would be remiss of me not to try," Brook easily agreed.

Brook gently dipped a finger in the water before running it around the lip of the glass, slowly adding pressure until the glass started ringing out an airy note. Brook quickly tried all the other glasses to hear what note they made, then, after a moment of silence, he played the wine glasses. The song was ethereal in its beauty, light and airy like a choir of angels, and the crew sat entranced by the sound.

As the last note faded, Brook turned to Robin. "Thank you for helping me play, Robin-san."

"For music like that, it was my pleasure," Robin said with a smile as her extra fingers burst into flower petals.

A big grin stretched across Luffy's face.

"Shishishi, Brook is the best musician. He can play anything!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The crystal wine glass thing is true and a great way to have fun/annoy people at fancy restaurants. My mom wasn't exactly happy when my dad and my uncle taught my brother and me how to do it, and that was at home.


	3. Drinking Songs

Brook was drunk.

How that was possible without the proper body structures to be affected by the alcohol didn't matter. The Straw Hats had learned after having him on board for a few days that it was better to not ask how the living skeleton worked, the only answers were the yomi yomi no mi and "mystery," which were hardly answers at all.

But that wasn't the problem. The problem was that they could not get Brook to _shut up_.

It wasn't that Brook started singing horribly off-key in a drunken stupor. At the moment that would have been preferable, because a drunk Brook apparently sang some of the dirtiest drinking songs the crew had ever heard. Within the first verse, Robin had sprouted arms to protect the youngest crew members' innocence, then more arms to hold their musician's jaw shut.

"How is he still singing?!" Zoro growled. His love of alcohol meant he'd heard similar songs before, but Zoro didn't like the idea of them gracing the youngest ones' ears.

"If I had to guess, he never has needed to move his jaw to talk or sing," Robin replied, frowning as the musician continued to sway dangerously while his singing lost no volume or clarity. "It's not that impossible considering his ability to speak even though he's missing all but two of the necessary body parts for forming speech."

"So how do we shut him up?" Nami screeched. She liked her alcohol, but never the songs that seemed to burst forth from the inebriated in bars.

"Let's just knock him out," Zoro suggested, moving toward the staggering skeleton.

"You shitty idiot Marimo, you'd break his bones before he fell unconscious," Sanji argued, knowing that neither Chopper nor Luffy would be happy with the injury to their nakama.

"Oh yeah? And what's your plan, Swirly-brow?" Zoro shot back.

This of course led to the usual brawl between the two, which Nami had to break up. It took a moment in the after-battle silence to realize that it actually was _silent_.

A quick scan of the deck found Franky next to the now open aquarium hatch, Brook at his feet with his long legs submerged in the tank.

"What?" Franky asked as the crew stared at him. "If you want a Devil Fruit user to lay off, dip 'em in some super sea water. Why do you think I keep a spray bottle of it in the workshop? It works wonders for calming Luffy-bro down and keeping him from breaking anything."

"Fufufufu," Robin laughed quietly, releasing her powers. "I suppose it does work. And next time we'll have to request that our musician refrains from singing any drinking songs."

Her proposal was met with unanimous agreement.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, probably different from what you normally see for something featuring Brook. I mean, he never really curses or anything, but there's no way he hasn't heard those kinds of songs being part of a musician crew for several years and the general One Piece pirate tendency to party with booze. So yeah, in my mind, drunk Brook means dirty drinking songs. Mix that with the crazy physics of his Devil Fruit and well, it gets really hard to shut him up. So semi-silliness and crew family dynamics ensues.


	4. Idiotic Plans

_Young lady, what kind of idiot draws up plans with the expectation of dying?_

Most would say that in challenging a Yonkō it was only practical, logical even, to expect to lose some crew members (if you weren’t just plain wiped out) and thus planned accordingly for those losses.

The Straw Hats were not most people.

They were the “idiots” who charged in with “no plan and no sense of self-preservation.” Brook privately laughed at such accusations. The truth was far greater than that. As erratic and senseless as the Straw Hats seemed to be, the plan Luffy always presented his crew with was brilliant yet simple: kick ass and live on.

Its simplicity was its beauty. It was absolutely adaptable and it had brought them victory time and again as they drove relentlessly towards the final goal by whatever means was at their disposal. The plan was always to _live,_ so they never feared death and it made all the difference. Unlike their enemies, the Straws Hats could die, but they _wouldn’t_ because it was not part of the plan.

Big Mom had taunted Brook for saying that the worst-case scenario was Sanji not returning to the crew. She had believed the worst-case for them would be everyone dying, but Brook knew in his bones (he was nothing but bones, yohohoho) that the death of a crew member would never be in their plans, it would never even be considered. The plan was _live_ , so they would. To die would be to go against Captain’s Orders and their loyalty to their captain was too strong to disobey.

Brook knew in his soul, only idiotic plans would include the death of yourself or your nakama, so apparently everyone who wasn't a Straw Hat (honorary members and allies withstanding) was a complete idiot.

Poor, young things.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is more serious, but ah, that quote from chapter 851. Brook was just awesome sauce in raiding Bog Mom's treasure room and I will be so happy if they expand it a bit in the anime. We need more Brook! Anyways, it was a fun challenge to semi-logically explain a bit of Straw Hat logic on what makes an idiot. And seriously, Dr. Kureha and the giants are like the only characters that aren't younger than Brook, so he can call most anyone "young man" or "young lady" and get away with it, even if that someone is important, like a Yonkō.


	5. Forget to Swim

After three weeks and no display of some mysterious, unnatural power, the Rumbar Pirates were willing to believe that the fruit Brook had risked eating was not actually a Devil Fruit.

It was a bit of a disappointment really. They had heard stories of men with incredible powers granted by the legendary fruits and had been hoping to see one of their own make such legends. The crew had been eagerly watching Brook for the first week, waiting to see a manifestation of the fruit’s power, but there was nothing. By the tenth day, there was talk of the fruit being fake. At the end of the second week even Brook was willing to admit that the awful tasting fruit was a dud and life went on.

If Brook’s music seemed to move people a little more now, well he’d probably figured out how to play a bit better. And if the lanky musician went a bit more limp in the shower, well they had been working harder lately and hot water was always soothing to the tired.

The problem with believing that the fruit had been fake was that Brook believed he could still swim, so when their newest cabin boy, Jeffery, who he knew couldn’t swim, fell overboard, Brook didn’t hesitate to jump in to fish the poor boy out.

He quickly came to realize it was mistake.

The moment he hit the water, Brook could feel his strength draining away and he barely managed to get his head pointed towards the surface before the strange lethargy completed paralyzed him. A second more and he lost the strength to stay conscious.

* * *

“What the hell was that, Brook?! Did you jump in the water and forget to swim?” 

The shouted reprimand was what Brook came back around to. He sluggishly turned his head to see Yorki dripping on the deck beside his prone form.

“Yohoho… not at all, Captain,” Brook tiredly replied. He felt so weak and exhausted, like he’d been fighting all day without rest.

Yorki ran a hand through his wet hair with a sigh, worry for his friend in his eyes. “I’ve _seen_ you fish people out of the drink before. What happened?”

“I’m not sure, Captain,” Brook answered, voice stronger as his strength came back and he slowly sat up. “I just… lost all my energy as soon as I hit the water. I didn’t even have the strength to move.”

His captain looked at him with concern. Brook was one of the first to join his crew and he didn’t like the fact that his favorite musician nearly drowned. “Jeffery, did you notice anything strange about that water?”

“No sir, Captain!”

Everyone looked at Brook with concern. What Brook had described wasn’t normal and there could be trouble if it happened again, so he was sent to the infirmary to be checked over.

* * *

“Oi, Brook. Was that your first time in the sea since you ate that supposed Devil Fruit?” their doctor asked. He had checked Brook over and found nothing out of place.

Brook hummed in thought, head tilted as he considered the question. “I think so? I’ve never really kept track of that sort of thing.”

The doctor snorted. “Then we better get a bucket of seawater up here. Should make the diagnosis easy enough.” It didn’t take long for the bucket to arrive. “Okay, stick your hand in.”

Brook looked slightly confused by the request, but complied anyways, only to gasp as he felt his strength leaving him once more. He snatched his hand out of the seawater. “Doc, what’s wrong with me?”

“Well, it would seem that fruit was the real deal. I always did wonder _how_ eating a Devil Fruit could make a man incapable of swimming, especially if he knew how beforehand,” Doc mused. “Guess the sea tires out the user so much they can’t move, thus they can’t swim.”

“What kind of Devil Fruit just takes away the ability to swim?!” Brook asked angrily. He could have drowned, and for what? There had been no sign of the power of the fruit and that just wasn’t fair!

“Oh, I’m sure it does _something_. We’ll figure it out. In the meantime, stay out of the sea, got it?”

* * *

It took a few islands, but they finally found a Devil Fruit encyclopedia that listed the one Brook had eaten. It was the Yomi Yomi no Mi, which didn’t do anything until the user died, at which point it brought them back to life. An amazing power, they all agreed, even if the fruit’s power was more hindrance than help at the time.

Especially when their kind-hearted Brook would sometimes jump in to save someone and still “forget” to swim.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> An interesting thing about the Straw Hats and their anchors: Brook's the only one that supposedly knew how to swim before eating his fruit and probably the only one who hasn't had his powers since childhood. So with Brook's kind nature, I figure Brook "trying to go for a swim" and finding out he can't anymore would be something like this. Then the fact that he hasn't always been incapable of swimming means that he would, at least at first, forget that he can't swim and keep trying to rescue people. I don't know, Rumbar fluff, yay!


	6. Caged Song Bird

It was rather funny, when Brook thought about it. For all that he was a world-famous rock star on tour, he was a prisoner.

He wasn’t in the iron barred cage anymore (that had to go a long time ago, before they left the Longarm tribelands), but his managers had managed to cage him in other ways. They used security details, his fame, his fans, his Soul King persona, all of it to make an elaborate cage they thought couldn’t be escaped.

And at first, Brook couldn’t escape the bar-less cage. He was far too used to being all alone, or those few short weeks spent on a ship where there was no need for escape because the ship and crew were freedom incarnate.

But Brook was determined to slip his cage, for his reunion with the crew would be jeopardized if he couldn’t. It took time to learn the art of infiltration and sneaking around, but Brook had patience that few would ever know and powerful incentive to accomplish his goal. He learned to sneak out of the venue, to go into crowded streets and not attract attention for anything besides his height as he explored the foreign streets, and to sneak back into the venue. Awakening further powers of his Devil Fruit only helped his quest of escaping his cage to truly tour the locale. It was quite useful being able to scout his route in soul form.

By the time Brook’s tour had made it to Sabaody, his managers thought they had the finest musician ever in their cage, ready to sing on command and make them lots of money. After all, it had been ages since the Soul King had been caught sneaking away by the security teams.

Brook almost felt bad about revealing to them that he was no caged song bird, hadn’t been one for a long time, but really, he loved being Luffy’s song bird far too much to regret flying _that_ coop.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, when you consider Brook's relationship with his managers, it seems pretty obvious to me that they'd keep him on a short leash. I mean he started in an actual cage under their care. The bars were gone and Brook's quality of living certainly improved, but they'd definitely still try to maintain control and keep him chained up for the money. Which means Brook's specialization in infiltration comes from putting the slip on his rock star life, at least that's my head-canon. Also the "Soul King persona" thing, if you know Japanese, you'll notice that while doing his Soul King thing Brook talks differently. Usually he uses pretty formal Japanese, but as Soul King he talks rougher, so it's pretty clearly a stage persona.


	7. Need a Hand

“Ugh, I knew I needed the size 8 wrench,” Usopp mumbled to himself.

“Need a hand, Usopp-san,” Brook offered, walking up behind the sniper.

“Sure, if you could─” Usopp replied, ignoring what sounded like stifled laughter.

“Here you are.” Brook’s response and subsequent handing over the wrench were a little too fast, but Usopp didn’t question it. At least not until he saw that it wasn’t a wrench Brook had handed him.

“EEEYAH!”

At Usopp’s squeal, laughter burst out behind him.

“Ahahaha! Your-your face!”

“Shishishi! It looked like that mystery wall painting in Dressrosa!”

“Yohohoho! My stomach hurts from laughing, not that I have a stomach! Yohohoho!”

“That wasn’t funny, you guys!” Usopp yelled at the laughing trio, his glare switching between them and what he had been handed.

“Yes, it was!” Luffy gasped out between laughs.

“N-need a hand?” Chopper giggled out.

“Fine, whatever. You got me,” Usopp good naturedly grumbled back after another minute of laughter. Now that his heart wasn’t racing anymore, he could admit that it was a good joke. “Where’d you get it anyways?”

“Weeell… I need a hand now, so can I have mine back?” Brook answered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If Brook can detach and reattach his head, his arm from the elbow down should be easy. All people with the power to detach and reattach an arm are obligated to make the "need a hand" joke at least once in their life or suffer the wrath of the universe.


	8. Shadow of Your Style

“Spare with me.”

“Ah, Zoro-san, you’re not fully recovered yet! You should rest,” Brook replied to the request, more a demand really, from the swordsman lazing on the deck beside him with barely a pause in his music.

Zoro had only woken from his sacrifice on Thriller Bark two days ago and he was managing walking around the ship alright, but he was stiff and the ship’s young doctor seemed rightly worried for him in Brook’s eyes (not that he had any, yohohoho).

“I’m fine,” Zoro insisted. “Come on.”

“We really shouldn’t. Chopper-san was quite clear on how you should be resting,” Brook reminded the young man, hoping the youngest’s earlier threat of mummification if the swordsman was caught pushing himself would put the idea to rest for now.

“We’ll be quick,” Zoro decided with a nod, getting to his feet.

Brook actually stopped playing and sat up straight, tilting his head up just a bit to look the younger pirate in the eyes. “Zoro-san, you are still severely hurt from what you did. I will not add to that injury nor reopen any of it just because you are bored with resting.”

Brook’s tone was firm and left little to no room for argument and for once Zoro could see how the skeleton had once been the highest authority on that large, old ship they found him on.

“It’s not ‘cause I’m bored,” Zoro mulishly replied. Brook’s head tilted the slightest bit and it took Zoro a moment to realize that it was his equivalent to a raised eyebrow. “I wanna see your sword style.”

“You’ve already seen it when you fought my zombie,” Brook dismissed as he started playing again, a sign that he believed the argument over.

“No, that was a cheap imitation. Ryūma didn’t even use the same kind of sword as you,” Zoro refuted with a stubborn shake of his head, a hand resting on Shusui’s hilt.

Brook stopped playing again with a sigh. It was now clear that Zoro would not drop this, not until he got his measure of Brook’s sword style. Brook supposed it made sense in a way. If Zoro was to be the world’s greatest swordsman, he would naturally need to be knowledgeable of many different sword styles, able to effectively counter them and even use at least the basics of them.

“How about a compromise?” he suggested. “You will sit here and rest, per doctor’s orders, and I will do some drills and forms.”

Zoro considered for a moment. “Fine, but we _will_ spare later.”

“Of course, Zoro-san,” Brook easily agreed. “ _After_ you’ve recovered.”

Zoro sat back down next to Brook’s violin and watched, comparing as best he could Brook’s swordsmanship with his short experience against Ryūma. And like he knew it would be, Brook’s style was different. It was the same concepts, the same moves, but the execution of it was all too revealing of Moria’s incompetency with placing shadows in a zombie that would most benefit the shadow’s style.

The body of Ryūma was more powerful, his flying rendition of Aubade Coup Droit was proof enough when Brook had admitted to never achieving that, but that power clashed with the pure speed Brook, and thus his shadow, based his fighting around. Seeing Brook’s skill now, Zoro could tell that Ryūma had compensated for lacking speed with superior power. Ryūma had been a touch slower than Brook, he had flesh to weigh him down, so his parries had been stronger, more than capable of bouncing back and disrupting the rhythms of someone as light as Brook, basically erasing the speed difference by adding to Brook’s recovery time.

Ryūma was also built differently than Brook. The samurai zombie was shorter and broader, not that that was difficult, so his attacks had to be aimed differently and lacked the lanky musician’s reach. Brook’s height saw to it that he was almost always facing down his enemies literally, which meant that Ryūma had to learn to adjust his aim upward to hit the same points. How the muscles, or whatever the hell Brook had in the place of muscles, would be employed in the strikes were different because of that, not to mention that Ryūma’s body was conditioned for a different sword style in the first place.

And their reach, that was certainly a difference. Brook’s reach was nearly twice as long since his arms were longer and his shikomizue was longer than Shusui as well. For a person of average height to score a hit, they would have to maintain a strong guard or move incredibly fast to get in close without taking a hit themselves first. Actually, the easiest way to negate Brook’s reach would be to knock him off balance or at least open his guard up before charging in. Which actually wasn’t that easy when Brook’s style generally avoided contests of strength via locking blades, favoring the more subtle art of redirection and parries for a guard instead. Add in that the average step back for Brook was two steps forward for his enemy and there was a lot of chasing the musician to get in close.

Zoro was sure now that Moria had done both Ryūma and Brook a disservice. Ryūma had been animated with a sword style that ill-suited him and his legend, not that Zoro should complain. He was pretty strong anyways, but as someone aiming to be the world’s best, Zoro would have preferred a real taste of a legendary swordsman, not a shorter man’s power version of a tall man’s speed style. Meanwhile Brook was defeated by a bastardized version of his own carefully honed sword style all because his enemy had such a vastly superior physical strength.

Zoro knew that Brook would never be a master of the sword, his life (death?) was music, not the blade, but he was skilled anyway. Zoro could appreciate the work put into creating such an accurate and speedy style that adjusted for the general height difference Brook had to face.

After a while Brook finished his drills and reclaimed his seat and violin. “So?”

Zoro didn’t look at him, just closed his eyes and leaned back some more, enjoying the soft tune Brook had started.

“Ryūma definitely only had a shadow of your style.”

Brook laughed at the joke and Zoro just smirked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, so I decided to explore some of the differences that Brook and Ryūma would have because unless the builds are really similar there would totally be a noticeable difference between two people using the same basic style. And it should be really noticeable when Brook is a few inches short of three feet taller than Ryūma (he and Zoro should be roughly the same size since Shusui is properly sized for both), not to mention the whole speed vs. power thing. Seriously, Moria is a bit of an idiot matching Brook to Ryūma. The only thing they have in common is that their main weapon is a single sword and it's not even the same type of sword! Oh well, all's well that ends well.


	9. Easy Answer

Brook was singing that day. Which was odd because he hadn’t felt like singing “that song” in ages, but he just had a feeling that it was the right song to sing.

Then he heard them, the panicking voices of a crew frightened by his ship and his song. It was too bad, he didn’t see much of the living out here and they were already far too frightened for Brook to inquire if their shipwright might fix his rudder. They’d simply scream in fright and possibly try to kill him (again).

Instead he walked to the deck railing so that he might at least watch them sail by. It was a sunny little ship and to Brook’s surprise, the cheerful looking vessel was flying a jolly roger. It stirred a sense of nostalgia in his old bones as it reminded him of the ship Captain Yorki had first invited him aboard, looking far too lively and friendly to belong to pirates.

As for her crew, they were young and staring at him in abject horror. Well, one young woman wasn’t, but the reactions of the small fluffy creature and the boy in overalls made up for that. Poor things looked about ready to faint.

And so his ship passed them by and Brook thought that would be the end of it.

He didn’t expect the faint splash of oars in the water, nor the sound of feet and hands thumping against the hull as someone climbed the old frayed rigging hanging down the side of his ship. A look over the railing revealed three of the other vessel’s crew set to come aboard and his grip tightened on his cane. If he had to, Brook would turn them back by force. They would not disturb his crew’s eternal slumber in a search for treasure that had long since been removed. But the girl screamed and he was fairly certain that they were not here for a raid if someone so scared was sent along.

Having decided that they weren’t set on causing him trouble, Brook greeted them with civility, letting his natural light-heartedness come out after years (decades?) of no one to talk to. Maybe the panty request was a bit over the top, but indulging his perverted desires like that had done a better job of helping his visitors overcome their fear of his appearance than his cheer did. And the girl kicked him for it. Actual physical contact! This wasn’t one of his vivid dreams to relieve the loneliness! Brook almost thought the young captain (he had the same hat as the jolly roger, so there was no one else he could be) had asked if he pooped to help break up the fear some more, but the boy’s eyes were far too earnest to not be serious about the question. It was so strange and the blonde’s reaction to just asking the question so amusing that Brook answered it in all seriousness. The blonde then demanded answers and Brook was willing to give them. Some information could save these kids’ lives and lives were precious, precious things.

“Before that, become my nakama!”

Brook hadn’t realized he could still feel such longing in his bones. _Nakama_. How long had it been since he had live ones to talk to? To play for? To just be with?

“Certainly,” was his easy answer and the young captain beamed.

They took Brook back to their ship and he asked for the date on the way. What a surprise that he’d been adrift here for fifty years. Laboon must be beyond furious with him by now, but Brook would fulfill The Promise to Laboon and his crew no matter how long it took.

Brook then got to meet the rest of the small crew. More people! And food! He hadn’t eaten in years, probably decades. Unspoiled food was so hard to come by and there hadn’t been time to eat on Thriller Bark. The food was delicious and that wasn’t just the hunger talking. Brook was too used to hunger by now for it to affect his palette. Truly this ship had a fine cook.

Brook couldn’t help the antics and jokes he played around and through dinner. He wanted to see their reactions, to see them lively because there were _real people_ around him and he’d been so _lonely_.

They asked how his current situation came to be and Brook had no qualms telling them. He hadn’t meant for them to find out about his missing shadow, but he explained how that affected him as well. Then he was asked why he was so cheerful given his condition and Brook couldn’t but help but let them know that _they_ were his joy.

Brook was so happy his heart was fit to burst (though he doesn’t have a heart, yohohoho), but he knew it couldn’t last. He could not join them, as much as he longed to do so. He needed his shadow back first. The young captain’s willingness to take his shadow back for him after knowing him for less than an hour was heart-warming. This crew made his heart feel so full, like he hadn’t felt since they left Captain Yorki behind. That was why he could not, would not, ask them to face death to take back his shadow. They didn’t deserve such a fate with their full lives still ahead of them, so he’d give them nothing to work with, just some songs to commemorate their meeting.

Except the ship had been on its way to Thriller Bark before he’d met them.

Brook couldn’t believe his luck. Not only had he gotten the pleasure of company and a meal, but his long awaited second shot at reclaiming his shadow, all in one day. Warning the crew to escape away from the island, believing their fear would see to it that they heeded his warning, Brook set forth to reclaim what had been stolen.

They hadn’t listened. The small, sunny crew had come ashore and some had lost their shadows. Brook knew they were as trapped as he was now, so he told the shipwright and archeologist the full story of the island. Keeping secrets would do them no good, so he even told them his reason for holding on to life for so long when asked. In a way, it was a weight off his chest to affirm aloud to another person his solemn oath to return, like doing that made it not only possible but destined to come true.

In the end, he was grateful that the crew came ashore. If they hadn't, he would not have retrieved his shadow. Watching the young swordsman take on Ryūma after his second crushing defeat, Brook could barely believe his eyes (not that he had eyes, yohohoho). The swordsman was skilled and powerful and Brook knew that age would only sharpen and strengthen the young man. It was a privilege to watch the boy challenge the animated corpse of the legendary samurai.

Brook was even further impressed when the young crew hardly even hesitated to take on the giant Oars. Truly they were a brave and powerful crew, but that wouldn't bring them victory against a zombie. Brook was just glad that he made it back from the kitchens in time to save the young sniper. Brook would do all he could to help the crew win, he owed them at least that much after all they'd done for him. It was truly impressive how many times the crew stood back up again and Brook did his best to match them stride for stride. Their victory was nothing short of amazing, derived from pure stubbornness and absolute faith in each other. Brook was honored to have even played a part.

The appearance of the second shichibukai was devastating, but worse was that he could do nothing but watch as Zoro and the cook offered their lives in exchange for the boy captain's. That they would sacrifice so much for one man, the least Brook could do was stay conscious so that he could tell the remainder all he could of such final actions. When Zoro did not die, having stoically remained standing until Sanji found him, a faint "nothing happened" floating on the wind, Brook decided that he would remain quiet on the matter. If the savior of his shadow didn't want recognition or praise, then Brook would respect that.

The party afterward was marvelous. Brook got more of that delicious food and he had a full audience for the first time in decades to brighten up. Better yet, Luffy, Sanji, and Usopp all affirmed that his keeping of The Promise was not in vain. His darling little Laboon was still waiting for his return, even if he wasn't so little anymore. How much happiness could one nonexistent heart hold? Brook was so incredibly thankful to be alive. There was just one thing left that could make this day the best.

"Is it still okay if I became your nakama?"

 _His_ captain gave an easy answer, "Sure!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is just some ideas of how Brook would have looked at the crew before he was fully a part of it, kind of to fulfil Black' Victor Cachat's request (They're over on Fan Fiction). This probably wasn't what they were looking for, but it's what I was inspired to write.


	10. Some Assembly Required

It had seemed like a great plan at the time: leave his body in an empty alley way while his soul searched the marine base for his captured crew and once they were all located make the rescue (or possibly just scare all the marines out of the base as a “ghost”).

That part of the plan had gone well. There was a nice alley about halfway between the port and base with sufficient stacks of crates and trash cans to hide his body and the marine who had spotted his soul drifting through the base happened to do so while he was talking to Usopp. Needless to say, their pathological liar of a sniper spun a tale that had the freshly recruited marine releasing the sniper for fear of a ghost invasion. After that it was simple for Brook to play scout while Usopp freed the rest of the crew.

The part that had gone wrong was that when Brook and the rest of the crew had returned for his body it wasn’t how he left it. Brook’s body was still there, propped up against the wall, but the stray dogs of the town had seen fit to divest it of limbs and roughly half the ribs since his soul wasn’t actively holding his skeleton together. Luckily the dogs hadn’t left the alley, instead content to chew their prizes a few feet away from where they got them.

Naturally the crew beat the dogs up for him (after Robin warned them not to let any escape lest they have an incomplete musician). They still had to force one of the mangy mutts to cough up a finger though. By then the marines were reorganized enough to catch up, so the bones were collected into his coat and the crew booked it for the Sunny. Brook terrorized the marines with his soul form to buy the time needed to get the Sunny underway.

When his soul caught back up to the ship, he found his bones scattered on deck while Luffy and Usopp attempted to reassemble him, ignoring Chopper’s admonishments that they were doing it _wrong_. Brook just laughed. He could reassemble himself perfectly in no time by repossessing his bones, but it was far too amusing to watch the boys try and get chewed out by Chopper. That and it was funny to think that “some assembly required” applied to him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one was inspired by Random Reader's request on FanFiction. Unless it was some monster dog or Brook let them (like the dog minks on Zou), I don't think Brook would have dog problems normally just because he can take care of himself. So I took some creative liberty and thought, if Brook's soul is what moves him and can put him back together, I bet if he's not in his body it could actually be pulled apart. Then of course I had to have Luffy try (and fail) to put him back together :)
> 
> Anyways, I will sort of take requests if you have them. I write on random bursts of inspiration, so basically I take a request if I feel inspired by it.


	11. Ducking Through Doorways

“Ow…”

“Kahahaha, still banging your head on the doorways, Brook-kun?” the little old shop keeper asked.

“Only when lost in thought, Madam Gertrude,” the lanky sixteen-year-old replied with a smile.

“Kahahaha, and what’s got your head all stuck in the clouds today, eh?” she asked, moving around the counter and beckoning him over to one of the shelves.

“Pazmoti’s Etude in E Minor,” he answered, humming the beginning of it as Madam Gertrude laughed some more.

“It’s always music with you, Brook-kun. Sometimes I wonder what was going through your father’s head when he shipped you off to the military academy,” she said with a shake of her head as Brook browsed the new books of sheet music on the shelf. “They feeding you enough up there? You’re skinny as a rake!”

“Yohohoho, yes, yes, there’s plenty to eat. It just seems that all I ever do is grow up and not out,” Brook replied with a cheeky smile.

“Kahahaha, you’re not letting any teasing get to you, are you?” Madam Gertrude said, a look of relief in her eyes. He was a good boy and she worried about him as if he were her own grandchild, though he was really just a regular at her shop.

“Not at all. I have to stop myself from laughing actually,” Brook said with a conspiratorial smile. “They look like petulant children when they have to glare _up_ at me.” They both shared a good laugh over that.

“You still showing them up in officer training?”

“Yohohoho, I would be, if I could manage to stop stepping on their feet in ballroom dancing,” Brook answered, an amused smile on his face. “They can’t decide if they should make a big deal out of how it hurts that I stepped on their toes or if they’d look weak doing that since I’m usually half their weight.”

Madam Gertrude laughed some more. “If they’re serious about treating it as training, they’ll shut their mouths. No woman wants her weight commented upon.”

“Of course, Madam. I’ll keep that in mind,” Brook said with a small bow, always willing to listen to her advice. She had yet to steer him wrong. “How much for the North Blue Waltz Compilations?”

“Play me that etude you were so caught up in when you came in and a pick from that book next time you stop by and we’ll call it good,” Madam Gertrude answered with a nod of her head after a moment’s consideration.

“I have money today, Madam Gertrude. I can pay for it,” Brook insisted. When his mother had first started bringing him to the shop, they hadn’t had the money to actually buy anything, so his mother would sing and dance in exchange for more musical material. Madam Gertrude had let Brook do the same when he later came on his own, but today he had money, won off his peers in a bet, so he didn’t need to take advantage of her kindness.

“Maybe so, but I’d rather hear you play, Brook-kun. You’ve got real talent and someone’s got to appreciate it, so go pick an instrument and play me that etude,” she said, shooing him towards the instrument selection her shop offered.

Brook did as instructed, playing the etude and more. His skillful playing attracted several more customers and Madam Gertrude smiled and enjoyed the show.

“I’ll be going now. Take care, Madam Gertrude!” Brook called, waving to her with the book tucked under one arm. Unfortunately he wasn’t paying close enough attention and whacked his head on the doorway again, gaining a sheepish smile.

“Kahahaha! You take care too, Brook-kun. And remember, you’re supposed to be ducking through doorways, not running into them!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Brook is really tall. Like a foot taller than the average doorframe tall, so he would have to duck down to pass through them all the time. There had to be a point in his life where he was learning to deal with this, and that would still be before he was full grown. So yeah. And then I have a little head-canon that his mother was a dancer/singer/performer of some sort while his dad worked for his home kingdom/country's military and pushed Brook to do the same. Brook wasn't sold on it because music is his true calling, but he's a crowd pleaser, so he went along with it. Well, at least until Yorki got to him. You'll probably see more of that head-canon somewhere down the line in here.


	12. Free Willy

Aboard the Straw Hats’ ship there were two types of animals that crew members were never allowed to kill or eat the meat of: reindeer and whales.

One look at the crew’s line-up and reindeer was perfectly self-explanatory. What the world saw as the Straw Hats’ pet was a reindeer and most people don’t eat their pets. As for the Straw Hats themselves, they joked that Chopper was emergency rations, but they would all rather pull a Zeff than eat their nakama. The ban on reindeer even extended to deer in general if they weren’t starved for food.

So the animal protection that the world didn’t expect of the Straw Hats was for whales. Honestly, it surprised most who got a look at the captain’s voracious appetite. With his love for meat and the amount a whale could provide, to others it didn’t make any sense at all that the captain would outright refuse to even consider catching a whale for food. But most of them didn’t even know there was an island whale at the Twin Capes, much less about the 50-year-old promise that Laboon was waiting on.

Whale had been off the Straw Hat menu since they entered the Grand Line. Brook joining the crew only reinforced that exhibition and raised it to “never hurt a whale” (no one liked a moping Brook, the sad music just brought everyone down).

Which explained the current chaos.

The Straw Hat Pirates, who had seemed like such good guests to The Sea Tank restaurant, were going wild. The navigator had robbed The Sea Tank blind and was working some of the guests now. The shipwright was opening a hole in the jump net while the captain and swordsman saw to it that the security detail didn’t interfere. The cook and archeologist had liberated their ship for escape. The sniper and doctor were guarding the musician, who was the worst of the lot. All the ingredient boats were miniature icebergs by his hand from the loud, angry chords spewing from his guitar as a ghostly green projection froze whatever its ethereal hands touched. It was the Soul King’s most terrifying concert of chaos.

As for how it started…

The Sea Tank restaurant boasted three large, in-the-sea tanks that held all manner of marine life with floating glass platforms to hold their tables. “See the sea beneath you as you dine on freshly caught seafood,” was their motto. It also just so happened that when the Straw Hat Pirates came to port on its island of residency, The Sea Tank had just added a small pod of blorca whales to tank two.

For all that he’d been a rock star, Brook was one of the more frugal members of the crew, so when he’d asked to go to the expensive restaurant to see the whales, Nami had agreed to it (if she had been interested in going herself, that was for her to know and no one to find out). Naturally, the rest of the crew found out and wanted to come too, so there was yelling that it was a “nice restaurant and you better be on your best behavior!” There were _reasons_ , as in more than one, that they didn’t go to fancy restaurants besides the prices (namely Luffy, though most male crew members were on that list in some way too).

That evening saw the Straw Hats showing up to The Sea Tank in formal evening wear (some had to be bullied into dressing nice) ready for a night of fine dining. It wasn’t so bad by Straw Hat standards. Chopper, Luffy, and Usopp were loud as they pointed out the different fish they could see laying down on and peering through the glass platform (at least they weren’t bouncing around), Franky was complimenting the architecture of the unique restaurant, Sanji was appreciating the set-up and the wafting scents from the kitchen, Zoro was leaned back in his chair and keeping an eye on the youngest crew members, Robin and Nami were chatting, and Brook had pulled out his neatly concealed guitar and started strumming a waltz-like tune that added nicely to the atmosphere of The Sea Tank.

It didn’t take long for the blorca whale pod to decide that they liked the Straw Hat table the best, much to the delight of the crew as the whales swam around them. Of course, Luffy being Luffy, had decided that he would _ride_ one, because why not? Except that the blorca whales obviously didn’t know about Devil Fruits, so when Luffy’s chosen steed, impulsively named Willy, dove with Luffy still aboard, the young captain nearly drowned. Luckily Willy was smart enough to resurface with Luffy still on his (or possibly her, the Straw Hats didn’t know) back. There was scolding for being a reckless moron, but after Chopper helped make sure the whales understood, the kids of the crew enjoyed whale-back rides.

“Hey, Nami! Let’s buy a whale!” Luffy declared.

“Luffy, we can’t just buy a whale!” Nami yelled back. “There’s no way they’re selling something that attracts customers.”

“But they are, Nami! See?” Luffy held up a stiff piece of paper, pointing to a line on it that read:

_Blorca Whale ……… 1,000,000 beri_

“That’s the menu, Captain-san,” Robin pointed out and the table went quiet, eyes darting between the captain and musician, waiting.

“FREE WILLY!” the captain ordered.

And thus chaos ensued.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Come on, it was begging to be done. Brook and by extension the Straw Hats are totally pro-whale and they would so fight someone over whaling/eating whale. Blorca whales are laziness on my part as blue+orca=blorca and I imagine them as nice cyan colored orca whales. If you want to imagine them differently, feel free to do so. As for the brief fight thing with Brook making shipbergs, I like to think that the awesome soul projection from chapter 848 not only looks awesome, but can swipe at things to hit them with the chill of the underworld. Otherwise Brook would be terribly vulnerable to anyone who can resist his Soul Scream. Anyways, there's probably going to be a Rumbar Pirate redux of this theme later because Laboon is Brook and that crew's whale baby.


	13. WANTED: Dead or Alive

“Rise and shine, it’s moooor-ning~!”

“Broooook, it’s too early for this,” Chopper whines while the others groan at the wakeup call, only slightly mollified that it wasn’t _Black Handkerchief of Happiness_.

“Then I suppose you don’t want to see your new bounties?” Brook slyly asks, posed to walk back out the door.

“We got new bounties?!” Nami shrieks, fully awake now. “Why did _we_ get new bounties?!”

“Yohohoho, it would seem Luffy-san and the rest made quite the ruckus in Dressrosa, so all of the crew’s bounties were raised,” Brook replied, walking back into the room.

“I wanna see! I wanna see!” Chopper squeals, bouncing around Brook in excitement.

“Yes, yes. Here’s your bounty, Chopper-san.”

“100 beri! Those bastards still think I’m a pet!” Chopper shouts indignantly.

“Ah, but your bounty doubled Chopper-san,” Brook soothes, getting the young doctor to brighten a bit.

“They really did raise our bounties,” Nami dejectedly sighs as Brook hands her bounty poster over. “And they updated our pictures.”

“I think your new bounty picture is quite nice, Nami-san,” Brook comments and Sanji is quick to start lavishing his own praises upon the navigator and her admittedly suggestive bounty picture.

“Shut up!” she shouts, hitting Brook and Sanji.

“How harsh! Here’s yours, Sanji-san.”

Brook watches Sanji’s reaction to his bounty poster, the slight tightening of the cook’s eyes and even slighter down-curve of his lips before he grins at the fact that he’s _finally_ got a real picture, not that shitty hand-drawn one, and reads out the price on his head for the others. Seeing as Sanji’s reaction to being wanted “only alive” was only slightly disturbed, Brook concludes that the cook does not know who is demanding him alive from the marines. What Brook does know, and likely their intelligent cook as well, is that whoever it is has incredible political clout and intends to _own_ Sanji like a _slave_. Not that it matters, Brook thinks, for their captain would never allow someone to own _his_ cook. Not like that. And if they come to collect Sanji, they will quickly find they have bitten off far more than they can chew. The Straw Hat crew looks after its own and brings any who would threaten that to their _knees_.

The rest of the crew’s bounties are spread out on the table for perusal and there is an inevitable uproar over Usopp’s new, impressively high bounty and epithet of “God.” There’s obviously quite the story behind that and Brook can’t wait to hear how their cowardly sniper has been given such elevation when the crew is whole once more.

“Hey Brook, look at yours! It’s all different and colorful!” Chopper exclaims.

“Yohohoho, yes indeed! It seems they decided to use my concert poster. I can’t imagine why though,” Brook muses aloud.

It really was a puzzle in the old musician’s mind. To be honest, when Brook had quit the music business, he had expected to sail forth again as “Humming Brook” once more, his picture updated to reflect his skeletal appearance. However, the marines must be idiots because not only had they updated his epithet to his stage name of “Soul King,” but they hadn’t even bothered to get a proper picture for his bounty, instead using his concert poster in a clear sign to the world that the pirate and the rockstar were one and the same. If that was meant to warn the populace off of one of their favorite musicians, it was a stupid plan. Brook’s more devoted fans would likely extend their worship of the rockstar to the pirate (because hey, free concert if the Straw Hats dock on your island and who doesn’t love meeting their idols in person) while the casual fans would still know that they get to meet the real deal if the Straw Hats visit because the marines had spelled it out that the world-famous rockstar was really a member of the Straw Hat Pirates, not some pirate stealing the name and look. So chances were that ports would be a bit more friendly with the Straw Hats because of his fame. Well, that or Brook could charm potential bounty hunters away with the opportunity of a private concert like what his wanted poster seemed to advertise.

Because really, Brook’s wanted poster looked more like an advertisement for a new show than anything else with the way the marines formatted it. The SK Brook’s WANTED: Dead or Alive concert.

Wait, was wanting him dead or alive a trick question now?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was inspired by the review on FanFiction that Black' Victor Cachat gave on chapter 10, their third suggestion with a dash of the first. Sanji knew that it was weird that his bounty was "only alive" and with Brook's whole "Sanji probably won't come back" when explaining it to Luffy and the rest suggests to me that he had a good idea of what Sanji was getting into when being taken (mostly that Sanji was being reduced to little more than a slave at his family's whim). And seriously, Brook's bounty poster still looks like a concert poster since the marines didn't even crop it to fit the standard bounty format, so it isn't really going to warn people off of him. Also had to add the last line, it's a really legitimate question when Brook is both dead and alive.


	14. On Tour: Water 7

“Nmaa, should I be worried about someone after your head?” the mayor of Water 7 asked as he started to take the rockstar on a tour of the Galley-La docks. The Soul King’s managers had expressed concern over their star going around without an escort.

“Don’t worry. Manager’s just worried I’ll wander off to explore,” Brook explained, frowning just the slightest bit internally that he couldn’t be more polite about the mayor’s concern. He understood where his managers were coming from in insisting on a stage persona, it was all part of the entertainment and showmanship, but having to keep it up off stage was something that chaffed at Brook’s sense of being a gentleman.

“Oh? Do you get lost easily?”

“Hardly,” Brook replied, replacing his usual laughter with a snort even as his mind wandered to the funny predicaments of Zoro’s many misadventures in being lost. And really, he wanted to laugh, but the Soul King persona tamped it down. “They don’t want to run the risk that I might get lost or something.”

“Is that so?” the mayor said, a speculative look flashing across his face.

The tour of the docks continued and Brook did his best to express his wonder and delight at the famous shipyard through his persona when he really just wanted to sing and play the tunes that watching the shipyard inspired. In the end, Brook settled for humming. It was a whim of music that he was humming a song he’d heard Franky play as they passed the Zambai’s Company Union section.

“Oi, oi! Hold up!” the man on roller skates exclaimed, skating over to them.

“Nmaa, is something wrong, Zambai?”

“That song you were humming,” Zambai said, looking at Brook, “where’d you hear it?”

Brook stilled, remembering that this city was Franky’s home, holding the people he’d left behind. Then he smiled, though no one could tell.

“I heard it from a very lively shipwright who refused to wear pants, just a speedo, Yohohoho!”

The shipwrights stared, elation at hearing that Franky had been doing well when the musician had seen him warring with surprise as the rockstar melted away into someone more joyful and polite.

“When did you meet him? Recently?” Zambai questioned. The disappearance of the Straw Hat crew had been weighing down on him as there was no word of his aniki and speculation that they had up and died had started circulating recently.

“No, not too terribly recent,” Brook answered, a slight twist of wistfulness to the words, “but we _all_ have promised to come together once more on that promised day.”

“Nmaa, I’m glad he’s doing well, though I’m surprised you were with them,” Iceburg said, filing the information away as something to look forward to in the future. Neither of Tom’s apprentices were done making worldwide news yet.

“Yohohoho, yes well, I was in that business before any of them were born and after 50 years all alone I was simply delighted to have been asked to get back into it and join them.”

“You don’t say? It sounds like quite a story,” Iceburg said with a smile up to his guest who nodded back happily with a laugh. The mayor liked this person much better than the persona he had been guiding around the docks. “I’d like to hear it, if you don’t mind. I know a nice out of the way bar if you can manage to slip out.”

“Yohohoho, that sounds delightful! I’ve been meaning to practice my stealth skills anyways,” Brook leans down to whisper conspiratorially, getting the mayor to laugh as well.

And so that night in a bar on the streets of Water 7 the ex-executives of the disbanded Franky Family, the dock foremen of Galley- La, the mayor, and Station Master Kokoro were all regaled with stories of the Straw Hat Pirates, their shipwright in particular, by an incredibly tall and skinny man who never showed his face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this one is kind of part of a series in that it's Brook meeting crew "family" on tour. I've got ideas for Goa Kingdom/Fusha and Baratie and vague ideas of Sakura Kingdom and Alabasta, but I don't think the tour would hit Syrup Village, Shimotsuki, or Cocoyashi as those places aren't rich/special enough for the managers to decide it's a place worth going to.


	15. When His Work Begins

When the fog fades, tendrils leaving waves for the ether

When the ship creaks a salute to the sunrise

When steel-toed shoes and cigarette smoke tap their way through the galley

When worn history book from the last island is closed and tucked under slender arm in the crow’s nest

When gears churn in preparation for another day of work and play at sea

When fuzzy ears and wet blue nose twitch as dreams flee the sun

When a solitary eye blinks open in the dim cabin to survey swaying bunk boxes holding nakama

When a tired face burrows into pillows and covers to prolong the peace before day’s madness begins

When mumbles of false grandiose start to gain coherency

When the captain screams for MEAT and breakfast

That is when his work begins and melodies float through salty sea air, the last dregs of morning tea forgotten on the counter.

And when the day is over, he’ll put them all to sleep again with sweet lullabies.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So you have my creative writing class to thank for this poem-y thing. Teacher said to write a bunch of "when..." lines that all lead up to something and I was like "Screw it, we're doing morning on the Sunny." I kind of wanted to add Jimbei in since he's accepted his calling to the crew a couple of chapters ago, but I don't think I know him well enough to add a "what he does in the morning" line. Meh, he hasn't really sailed on Sunny yet, so I'm clear, right? Right. So yay Brook starts and ends the day!


	16. On Tour: Alabasta

“And to round off my Alabasta concert, I gotta new song for you babies!”

The Soul King’s proclamation was met with deafening cheers and even the royal contingency let out a few whoops.

“My new soul: _Fond Farewell_ ,” Brook announced and, though they couldn’t see it, his non-existent eyes locked-on to the blue-haired princess.

__

It was driving Vivi crazy. Some of the lyrics to _Fond Farewell_ sounded far too much like her farewell to the Straw Hats and it premiered here in Alabasta, right before her. It felt like too much to be a coincidence, so the question was _did the Soul King know?_

Vivi took Carue with her to confront the rockstar. They wound their way through the palace halls to the room the famous musician was given and Vivi was surprised to hear violin music coming from it. Not because the instrument of the Soul King was a guitar, not a violin, but because she knew this tune.

_“Luffy-san, what’s that song you’re humming?”_

_“Oh, this? It’s the pirate anthem. Shanks taught it to me!”_

_“Does it have words to it?”_

_“Yep! But Nami yells at me when I sing, so you’ll have to wait until we get a musician to hear it. I’m gonna have the best musician ever and we’ll sing lots of songs because pirates love music!”_

The Soul King knew the pirate anthem? Vivi stopped outside the door, hesitant to knock because she wanted to hear this song that was loved by her captain, but she still needed to confront the musician. When he started singing in soft dulcet tones, the choice was gone, there was no way she couldn’t stand there and listen.

“You know, the door is open, princess,” the Soul King said as he played the few last notes on his violin.

Vivi and Carue were jolted out of the daze the music had left them in and the princess opened the door. The musician was perched on the balcony rail, one leg up and torso twisted to look out over Alubarna as he started a new melody on his violin.

“How did you know I was there?”

“Hmm? My hearing is quite sharp, so I heard you approach. Not that I have ears, Yohohoho!” the skeleton laughed and Vivi noticed that there was something different, not just about the way he spoke, but his voice as well. It was pitched softer and jumped easily between low and high. Somehow, Vivi thought it suited him more. “What was it you wanted, princess?”

Vivi steadied herself, now wasn’t the time to reflect on the Soul King’s speech patterns. “I was curious as to what inspired the lyrics for _Fond Farewell_.”

“Oh? Did you like it? I’m rather fond of it myself.”

“Yes, it was quite good. So?”

“I’ve lived a long life, princess. There are many people I’ve had to leave behind. Some I wish I could have said a proper good-bye to, others I remember leaving behind with a promise to return. In a world like ours, filled with oceans that separate, I thought such feelings would resonate quite well with many others who have set out to sea,” he explained, turning away from the city lights to face her.

It wasn’t the answer Vivi was looking for. Yes, it answered her question, but at the same time that wise, old voice taunted her with little hints that maybe he _knew_ of what she once did, what she once was.

“ _Though I leave you speechless on that distant shore_

_Know our friendship is marked forever more_

What inspired those particular lyrics, Mr. Soul King?” Vivi demanded.

The rockstar was unperturbed and answered her once more with that aged voice, “I read about a certain farewell in the ship’s log of the crew I joined. To have to leave nakama behind without saying a word yet still pledging that loyalty and love… It was very touching, Vivi-san.”

And for a moment, Vivi forgot to breathe. He _knew_ them. He had sailed with them. Soul King Brook was one of them. A Straw Hat Pirate. Vivi knew her old crew was alive, had seen Luffy’s message, but she hadn’t known that the crew numbered _nine_ , not eight.

“You really─?”

“Yes. They’re truly marvelous, aren’t they?”

“Yeah,” the princess said with tears in her eyes. “Tell me how they met you.”

“Of course! I could hardly turn down such a lovely young princess.”

That night the princess of Alabasta and the leader of the Super Spot-Billed Duck Squad listened to the Soul King spin a tale of endless fog, zombies, and a shadow stealing monster. If the King and his most trusted advisors were caught sitting outside the doorway eavesdropping, well, the night guard had seen them do odder things in the name of the princess.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here we have the second On Tour chapter. I just had to add in the end part with Cobra and crew because they're all silly in their protectiveness of Vivi.


	17. Chapter 17

_Dear Crocus-san,_

_It’s me, Brook. It’s been quite a long time, hasn’t it? I wanted to write sooner, let you and Laboon know I was alive and beg you both forgive me for keeping you waiting for so long, but circumstance has kept me from doing so until now._

_I still have every intention of keeping our promise and coming back through Reverse Mountain, so I fear I may be a few years yet from returning. It may be too much for me to ask Laboon, and by extension you, to keep waiting, but after so long, I think that it’s all the more important to keep this promise fully. The thought alone of returning to Laboon was what kept me sane for the past fifty years, it is that important to me, but I get ahead of myself._

_You probably hate us, Crocus-san, for seeming so callous in our keeping of the promise. A mutual young friend of ours (the boy who made Laboon a new promise) told me of your discovery of our “fate,” so if you have any care for us still, I ask you continue reading to see what really happened to us._

_I’ll skip over the plain details of our adventure. Having traveled the Grand Line yourself, I’m sure you have an idea of the difficulties and fun. Trouble started roughly six months after we left the Twin Capes when Captain Yorki got sick..._

_…and so after fifty years adrift alone, our young friend saved me and I had a crew and could move forward again._

_I will follow him forward to the end so that we may both complete our promises to Laboon. That’s okay, isn’t it? There’s something special about him, you know. Something that makes miracles and dreams not only possible, but destined. I can feel it in these old bones of mine, though I’m nothing but bone!_

_Anyway, I hope to see you both in a few years. In the meantime, I’ve sent along some tone dials of the songs I’m currently gaining popularity for. I’ll send more while I’m still training for the New World, so please enjoy._

_Yours truly,_

_Brook_

* * *

“Damned idiot,” Crocus choked, tears so thick he was barely able to finish reading the letter that had been tucked into the small package of tone dials addressed to both him and Laboon. The brat wearing his old captain’s hat had given Laboon hope in more ways than one with this unpublished stunt.

“Oi, Laboon!” the old lighthouse keeper called, walking out to the cliff edge with the package of tone dials tucked under his arm. “I’ve got a surprise for you I think you’ll like.”

He read the letter to the whale, watching Laboon get teary eyed and cry to the skies in joy and sorrow and vindication. Then Crocus picked a tone dial at random and let it play, lively music and that familiar croon ringing out, and for the first time in fifty-three years, Crocus heard Laboon and Brook sing together again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one was partially inspired by SkyGem's fic See You Again over on FanFiction, which has Crocus and Laboon discovering Brook's survival when some rookies come down with his tone dials. I figure Brook would take the opportunity of being in society again while being put on tour to write a letter and send the tone dials himself, so there's this now.


	18. We'll Be Free, Someday

“Take it back!”

The shrill shout was the signal for the ring to form in the academy courtyard. The dirt poor, lanky misfit had picked a fight with the noble born, burly star of the academy and all were eager to watch the beat down. Money discreetly passed hands on who would win, if an instructor didn’t break it up first.

“And why should I? You saying you don’t hang out with that gutter trash?” Leon taunted.

“They’re not trash!” Brook vehemently replied, using the half foot he had on Leon to stare the other boy down. “They may not have your status or wealth, but any one of them is worth ten of you, you-you smug pompous bastard!”

The crowd breathed tension, waiting for Leon’s response. It was the one they wanted. Leon swung a right hook that knocked Brook off his feet and sent his shades flying. The spindly boy wasn’t going to take it lying down today and surged to his feet, blindly grappling at the heavier Leon, out for blood.

“WHAT DO YOU HOOLIGANS THINK YOU’RE DOING?!”

The roar cut through the jeers of the ring and froze the combatants where they lay, Leon straddling Brook, a fist in the taller boy’s collar, the other raised for another blow. Meanwhile Brook’s long fingered hands pried and pushed against Leon’s square face as he tried to wiggle his thin frame from under the stocky boy.

“Sergeant Endriech, sir!” the circlers snapped to attention, Leon pushing Brook back down as he jumped to attention himself.

The military academy instructor eyed his charges, the slight scrapes and aggravated look on Leon, the blossoming black-eye and bloody nose on the slowly rising Brook, and tsked. “Kersen, report!”

“S-sir!”

* * *

“You’re late, Brook!” the jovial call rang out in the back alleys of the middle district.

“Sorry, I had latrine duty,” Brook sheepishly explained. He left out how Kersen’s report failed to get Leon in trouble as well. Stupid bully boy had even the more neutral cadets cowed.

“I see,” the straw-haired boy said, eyeing his bruised friend and how his shades were cracked and sitting askew. “Did the other guy get a licking too or do I hafta hunt down some petty rich boy officer?”

“What?! No! No, it’s fine! I should have known better. Don’t go picking fights on my account, Yorki-san,” Brook panicked. He didn’t want his one good friend to get arrested because he couldn’t fight his own battles.

Yorki snorted. “Isn’t that what friends are for? Beating up the guys you can’t…”

“Or getting licked right beside you,” Brook finished with a laughing smile.

“There’s our jolly tree!” Yorki crowed, jumping up to ruffle curly black afro. “Now c’mon. Madam Gertrude just got a new piano in and we need you to give it a play!”

The alley was filled with laughter as Yorki dragged Brook away and the other children of the street were quick to trot out after the boys. By the time they made it to Madam Gertrude’s Symposium, it was a small parade.

Madam Gertrude wheezed a laugh at the march of children coming in to the sound of the tinkling door chime. “I thought I told you to fetch Brook-kun, Yorki-kun, not the whole neighborhood!”

The smudged children instantly whined for music, Brook’s music, and at the thought of being denied the simple pleasure. They tugged at Brook’s pressed pant legs, on Yorki’s faded shorts, and turned pleading eyes to the old shop owner. She only laughed harder.

“Kahahaha! Did I ever say I was turning you brats out?” Madam Gertrude said, a teasing light in her eye and hands on hips. “Now this old one’s a bit different, Brook-kun. She’s nearly 300 years old and hasn’t got pedals, but rather levers you press with the knee, which might be a bit tricky with how long your legs are.”

Brook just laughed. “Well, I do enjoy a challenge every now and then. Let’s see what this old gal can do.”

Sonatas, etudes, rondos, shanties, children’s rhymes. The old piano sang with them all under Brook’s coaxing digits. The afternoon was spent singing, listening, laughing.

When the lid was finally closed over the 88 keys, there was nothing but smiling faces. Good-byes were called and waved as the sun burned the sky orange.

“I suppose I have to go back now,” Brook said, standing on the main road from the harbor to the academy, but facing the sea.

“Che, you should just stick with us,” Yorki grumbled, kicking a loose stone. “They don’t like you, but we do.”

Brook laughed wistfully. “Maybe so, but Father enrolled me in the academy and I’d hate to disappoint him.”

“Who cares about your old man?”

“It’s also to better serve my country.”

“And what have they ever done for us?”

“Yorki-san…” Brook admonished. It wasn’t a perfect country, not by a long shot, but it was the only one they had. And it certainly wouldn’t get better if they did nothing.

“I’m gonna leave this dump someday, Brook. You can come with me! I’ll get a ship and you can play music all the time as we sail the seas!” Yorki exclaimed, jumping up on a crate and raising an imaginary sword. “We’ll be musicians of the sea!”

“Free as the wind and capricious as the waves?” Brook asked, hope lilting his voice.

“Yeah,” Yorki confirmed, looking down on his tall friend for once. “We’ll be free, someday.”

* * *

Years later Yorki got his ship and together they started the Rumbar Pirates.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Told you I'd do more of Brook's pre-pirate days. I'm not really sure whether this one would occur before or after Ducking Through Doorways, but I don't think it really matters. Anyways, I like to think that Yorki and Brook were the original members of the Rumbar Pirates since Brook seems to have been the first mate. They're also long time friends I think with Yorki being a bit rough and tumble while Brook is more reserved. Brook just doesn't have the easiest of times at the academy being a toothpick and from a poor background, but he's got his music and the friends that brings him. Also, it seems Brook had his shades all his life if the one color spread with the small child versions of the crew is to be believed, so he's got them here as well. We'll never know what his eyes looked like o~o (someone should send that in for SBS)


	19. FUN Song

“So what do we do with him?” Usopp asked, staring at the marine that had been stranded upon the Sunny after the crew’s most recent run-in with the marines. The marine in question was rather worried as to what his fate would be at the hands of pirates, as he sat tied to the mast.

“Brook,” the captain, Straw Hat Luffy called, causing the marine to pale at the sight of the living skeleton. He had thought that the Soul King just dressed like a skeleton, not that he actually was one. “Teach him a fun song!”

What?

The crew’s faces reflected the marine’s thought.

“Certainly, captain!” and Brook retreated to the men’s cabin, only to reappear with the world’s smallest guitar. No, wait, a ukulele the marine mentally corrected. It just looked like an itsy-bitsy guitar in the hands of a man(?) who was nine feet tall.

The skeletal musician began strumming.

“F is for Friends who do stuff together. U is for You and me. N is for Anywhere at any time at all. Out here on the Thousand Sunny.”

The song was upbeat, simple, and catchy and Brook kept strumming.

“F is for Flowers, like Robin’s powers. U is for Ukulele. N is for Nakama, always at your side. Out here on the Thousand Sunny.”

The marine was getting the idea of the song and preparing for when he would be asked to sing since the Soul King _was_ supposedly teaching him the song.

“F is for Franky, he doesn’t wear pants! U is for Usopp, our liar. N is for Nami, our scary navigator. Out here on the Thousand Sunny.”

Brook strummed several more chords. “Your turn, Marine-san!”

He took a breath, then, “F is for Fleet Admiral that burns down the pirates! U is for Uranus… bomb? N is for no more pirates WHEN YOU─”

“MARINE GUY!” Luffy shouts as he smacks the marine over the head. Most of the crew shares a what-did-you-expect look.

“Shall we try again, Luffy-san?” Brook asks. His captain gives a firm nod, determined light in his eyes.

Brook starts strumming on the ukulele again, knowing that they’ll be at this until the marines come back for their lost man or someone decides enough is enough and throws the poor soul overboard. He gives a mental shrug. It’ll be amusing enough to keep coming up with lyrics to this _FUN Song_ in the meantime.

“F is for French Toast...”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... that just happened. Basically it started with realizing that Franky, Usopp, and Nami's initials can spell fun while coloring a shirt with the word fun on it, then snowballed from there. Took a little while to figure out why Brook (or anyone in One Piece, really) would be singing the FUN Song, but when in need of jerks for Plankton's part, marines do nicely and Luffy is Luffy while Brook's just happy to play along with his captain's whims. And we don't have any inkling of what Uranus is, besides its ancient weapon status, so it could, hypothetically, be a bomb, but mostly it just goes with the song.
> 
> And now I want to hear one of Brook's voice actors sing this as him, because.


	20. Old Logs and Maps

“Ah, Robin-san, might I borrow you for a moment?” Brook hesitantly asked. He had only just joined the crew yesterday and still wasn’t completely sure how to act around them.

“Of course,” Robin replied with a smile, curious as to what their new musician wanted.

“If you would follow me, then,” Brook said, turning to the door.

He led the way out of Moria’s mansion and down to the dock. Robin’s interest was further piqued when Brook led her aboard the old Rumbar ship, ghosting over old rotted planking and guiding her through the interior of the ship. He didn’t speak and Robin didn’t urge him to. Whatever this was, it was important and she didn’t want him to pull back because of her questions. So it took Robin by surprise when she fell through one of the floorboards that Brook had just stepped on.

“Oh my! Are you alright, Robin-san?” Brook asked, pulling her up and back onto stable planking.

“I’m alright,” Robin reassured him, mentally berating herself for forgetting that old, semi-abandoned places (particularly those made of wood in damp environments) tended to have unstable footing and using a man who was a quarter of her weight, if that, to judge structural integrity was a bad idea.

“I do apologize. I should have considered that this old gal may not be up to handling people who aren’t so light as me,” Brook said, still hovering over the archeologist in concern.

“It’s fine. Are we almost there?”

“Ah, yes. Just a bit further down this hallway.”

True to his word, Brook led her just a little further, opening a door on the left and entering. Robin followed him and a quick glance around revealed an ornate old desk, an old bed draped in faded blue, and several books on shelves mounted higher than her head, but about chest level for Brook.

“This is the captain’s quarters, isn’t it?” Robin asked, carefully making her way towards the desk.

“Yes, though I suppose you could also call it my room,” Brook replied, standing back against the wall to allow the archeologist to see fifty years into his past.

“I suppose so,” Robin agreed, eyeing the worn old books just out of her normal reach. “Though I’m curious as to why you brought me here.”

“I was hoping that you might help me preserve these,” Brook said, ghosting skeletal fingers over the aged spines. “They’re our log books and chronicle the entire history of the Rumbar Pirates, from our founding to our demise. They’re the only thing of value left here. Our treasure was cleared out long ago, before I even made it back to my body.”

“I see. Well, it would be my pleasure to preserve these logs, Brook,” Robin said, eagerly smiling up at her new nakama. Who was she to deny the chance for read about her home Blue and the Grand Line from over fifty years ago from the uncensored view of pirates?

* * *

They had to enlist Franky’s help to stabilize the planking and being the enthusiast he was, Franky set to getting the old ship in general working order.

Meanwhile, Robin was rather surprised at how well the logs had weathered being in such a damp environment for fifty years. The pages were a bit frail, sometimes sticking together, and several spines were growing mold, but the books remained largely legible and whole.

Nami found Robin going over the books with Brook at lunch time.

“And what are you two up to?”

“Oh, Nami. I was transcribing these old logs for Brook. Most of them are still salvable, but it doesn’t hurt to have extra copies of all of them,” Robin explained with a smile as her extra hands and eyes continued their work.

“What?! You still had your logs on that old thing?” Nami asked Brook. “I thought you said it had already been looted!”

“You asked after our treasure, Nami-san,” Brook patiently explained. “And that has been gone since before I got back, but nobody has taken anything since with me to guard the ship and seeing as Moria’s zombies only took food and treasure from their victims while I had none.”

“The-then you still have your maps, right?!”

“Possibly,” Brook replied with a tilt of his head, hand coming up to rub his jaw bone in thought. “I haven’t been to the navigation room in over five years, possibly a decade or three. It was quite hard to tell time in that fog and I’m afraid the order of my memories from back then can end up terribly jumbled. But I don’t think you'll get much use out of them when we’re heading to the next half of the Grand Line.”

“My dream is to make a map of the world! We’ll have to come back through this half again sometime and having even an old map of another route is better than none. Now take me there!” Nami demanded, grabbing Brook’s hand and hauling him up.

“Ufufufu, maps are an important part of history too and you’ll likely need someone to handle such old things properly,” Robin smiled at Brook’s surprise at their navigator’s sudden pushiness.

“Then you help too, Robin. C’mon, Brook!” Nami pushed the old skeleton from behind toward the old ship.

And Brook laughed happily as he started forward under his own power, the ladies in tow.

Brook had always been a bit disappointed that the ship had been looted in his absence, to have lost the Rumbar Pirates’s hard earned treasure to a faceless, nameless crew. But the fact that those lucky raiders left the logs and maps, the items that had the most effort and time put into them, had both relieved and upset him. Relief that he hadn’t lost those relics of his nakama and upset because someone else had deemed them worthless.

So Brook laughed in delight that these young women truly treasured his crew’s old logs and maps.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So paper products, like books and maps, probably don't actually last that well for fifty years in the damp of a foggy sea, but I really like the idea that Brook got to bond a bit with the ladies over those remnants of his past before they left Thriller Bark. I also think that nothing would have been removed from Brook's ship while he was onboard as he would have been protecting it all for sentimental reasons, so the treasure was looted while he was finding his way back. 
> 
> And for Robin falling through the floorboards, I read that bone accounts for about 15% of your body weight, so assuming the average 6 foot man weighs 200 pounds, give or take, that's 30 pounds of bone. Brook's tall but skinny, so he's probably somewhere between 30 and 40 pounds of bone. Robin is a 6'2 woman, so she's like 160 to 180 pounds, thus Brook is a quarter or less of her weight. 
> 
> And lastly, the crew's going to have to stick together for awhile even after Luffy's king to complete dreams, or at least Nami's dream of a world map since they'll have to sail the Grand Line several times to get to every island, not to mention the Blues, though I feel those are probably fully mapped since they don't have casually homicidal and logic defying weather to hinder explorational sailing.


	21. Inside the Mermaid Café

Some days it paid to be famous.

Not that Brook wasn’t proud to be a member of the _in_ famous Straw Hat Pirates, quite the opposite really, he couldn’t be prouder, but being the world-wide music star Soul King, _that_ had the good perks in regular society.

Normally Brook didn’t feel much about his Soul King fame. It had been a temporary gig from day one, so he hadn’t gotten attached to the attention and fans throwing themselves at him.

And then there were days like this where he just lived it up.

By a stroke of luck, Brook washed up near the crew’s old friend Pappug after they were forced to jump Sunny through Fishman Island’s protective bubble and the little starfish took the musician to the undersea paradise: the Mermaid Café.

It was unexpectedly empty of customers when the duo arrived. Not that Brook would complain, more mermaids for him.

And what a sight those mermaids were. No two were the same. Different outfits, different hairstyles, different tailfins. A veritable feast for the eyes, though he had none.

Pappug got them a table and Brook just enjoyed the view. _Sanji-san would surely be jealous if he knew where I am right now_ , he absently thought.

As they took their seats, browsing the menu (Brook was delighted with their selection of tea), a recording of _Bone Holiday_ started playing.

“Oh my gosh, you sound just like the Soul King!” the waitress exclaimed as she came to take their orders.

Brook startled a bit, he hadn’t realized he was singing along. It had just become habit as he hadn’t always paid attention during rehearsals towards the end of his tour, so he just started subconsciously singing along to his songs.

“Yohohoho! It’d be strange if I didn’t, considering I _am_ the Soul King,” Brook replied, easily slipping into his stage persona as he flicked his shades down.

“No way,” she dismissed.

Brook just smiled as _Bone Holiday_ ended. “ _It’s no mystery, just rock with me,_ ” Brook tapped the table to the beat of the missing trumpet blasts, “ _And you’ll see why I’m the King!_ ”

Watching the mermaid’s eyes light up and catching several more turn towards him in the corners of his vision, Brook felt satisfaction in proving he was the Soul King. In the early days of that short career, several other musicians tried to upstage him with that first song, but they just couldn’t put the right soul in it, ruining the sound to the point that it was basically Soul King’s I.D. card.

“So a cup of Sea Foam Tea for me so I can keep singing for you beauuuutiful mermaids.”

“Of course!” the waitress beamed, rushing off to place the order while other mermaids came over to the table.

“So you’re really him, huh?” one asked coyly.

“Down to my bones, baby.”

“I love your songs! You gotta do a few live for us!”

“It’d be my pleasure, but I’m already dead! Yohohoho!” It was really pleasing to Brook when the girls laughed along.

Soon enough they had him playing songs and signing autographs. The mermaids kept the tea coming and to Brook’s delight, deigned to leave lipstick stains all over his skull from their kisses. If he were a betting man, Brook would bet that he had met and briefly interacted with every mermaid in the café.

 _Sanji-san would be boiling over in jealousy if he saw this_ , Brook chuckled internally, promising when they came back with the whole crew to try to set a few mermaids on the cook.

Because inside the Mermaid Café, it paid to be the (Soul) King.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know, Brook was the only one in the crew to actually visit the Mermaid Café (well, at least from what we saw) and he seemed to very much enjoy it seeing as he came out with a mermaid on each arm, kiss prints all over his skull, and a request to come back. Basically, he had a good time and I wanted to go inside the café with him a bit. 
> 
> I decided to use dub lyrics from Bone to be Wild because they fit the situation and I was sad that the new batch of dubs had stopped one episode short of Brook and the Mermaid Café. 
> 
> Oh yeah, Bone Holiday is a real song that Brook's Japanese voice actor did as part of a One Piece seiyu album thing. It's good~


	22. Fashion Sense

Nami found it lamentable that one could never just buy clothes off the rack and expect them to fit Brook. If it was the right length, adjustments had to be made so that the skeleton wouldn’t just slip out the neck line or fall out a pant leg. And if it was the right girth, there was a necessity for extra cloth for at least his midsection as their musician turned full length clothes for normal people into shorts and half sleeves with an exposed midriff, which looked terrible when there was only spinal cord for show.

There was the option of special ordering clothes for Brook, but that was semi-expensive (bargains and haggling weren’t out of the question when there were enough odd body shapes in the Grand Line that any clothing shop had an attached seamstress or tailor) and for all that pirates are rumored to plunder and have stores of gold, the Straw Hats tended towards poor with little spare cash so much went into buying food.

Which meant that more often than not, when it came to getting Brook new clothes it was easiest and cheapest to just buy the fabric and sew it all themselves. It was annoying to have to put in the work, but if Robin could be cajoled into sewing it, it didn’t take long, and Brook’s sizes were never going to change at least, since he had no muscle or weight to gain or lose. Nami just supposed their coffers were lucky that Brook had no problem putting together serviceable outfits from whatever prints were on sale or in the bargain bin, even if they didn’t seem to go together at first glance.

Case in point:

“How about these, Nami-san?” Brook offered, holding up a bolt of red and white stripes on one arm and a bolt of white stars on a blue backdrop on the other.

“And thread?” Nami asked because while it didn’t take much more fabric to cover him than Zoro, it did take a great deal more thread when the seams were nearly twice as long. She didn’t question the prints Brook had selected, he could be trusted with that. After all, this was a man who had pulled off stripes and polka dots during their stay in Zou without looking any more offensive than his loud colors usually made him.

“White thread is on sale and goes with both fabrics!” Brook cheerily reported, uncurling a hand slightly to show the thread there that blended in with his bones.

“Good! Now we just need a sturdy, red fabric to make a new cardigan for Luffy.”

“There was a red bolt in the sale section, though I’m not sure it qualified as sturdy,” Brook offered, shifting his picks to one arm.

“Might as well take a look,” Nami sighed.

It was a bit odd, Nami reflected, that out of all the crew, her pick for clothes shopping partner if she couldn’t get Robin was Brook. With a glance at the crew, most would probably guess Sanji as her second choice with his nice suits. It wasn’t that Sanji didn’t know how to pick clothes well, but that their cook was prone to praise anything a woman wore and wasn’t always good about arguing a selection for the boys against Nami, which sort of nullified the purpose of bringing someone else along for a second opinion. Brook, on the other hand, had no problem speaking his mind or making a point and while his fashion tended to be somewhat unconventional (whether he’d always been like that or his tour had done it to him was up for debate), Brook had a good eye (except he doesn’t have eyes, yohohoho) for clothes that made browsing the sales and bargains worthwhile.

Now if only she could install Brook’s fashion sense into the rest of the boys.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is inspired by the fact that Brook does pull off polka dots and stripes together, which I remember being taught is a fashion no-no, along with other unconventional pattern pairings. 
> 
> Now I'm no seamstress myself, but I think clothing Zoro and Brook require about the same amount of fabric based on the fact that Zoro is very muscley while Brook is super skinny, so where Zoro's wider, Brook is taller. I am at least sure of the seams comment because those are all height based. 
> 
> Also, unless I'm mistaken, unless you're American, people don't consider pairing stars and stripes for clothing (because we're so proud to wear our flag like that), so I think that works (but really, I just think Brook would look good in the red-and-white striped pants and a star-spangled shirt with an Uncle Sam hat). 
> 
> I really do think that Brook would be a second choice for clothes shopping after Robin because Franky has his pervert pride, Zoro and Luffy don't give a damn as long as it isn't frilly/embarrassing, I'm not sure Chopper would really get or care about fashion, Usopp probably tends for simple or grandiose/gaudy, and Sanji for the reasons in story. 
> 
> Last line is also a bit of poking fun at the fact that Luffy and Chopper approved of Brook's purple dress outfit in the Gold film. I swear they tried to come up with the goofiest disguises they could for him in that movie. I'm not even sure what the purpose of the golden clown one was (Nami's blue cat and Chopper's green soldier either) when no one was shown it. At least Sanji, Usopp, and Robin's maid outfits made sense for the laundry carts at the end.


	23. Captain Over Girls

Zoro’s not sure why they’re here at this fancy-schmancy ball, but it is boring, something only his captain seems to feel as well. Nami and Robin are busy talking up the important people (the witch is probably trying to grill them for all they’re worth while Robin watches amused), Usopp and the cook are dancing with the noble girls (the cook’s in spasms of joy that disturb his partner and Usopp carefully stumbles his way through it), Chopper and Franky got lucky and stayed behind to watch Sunny, and he’s stuck here at the sidelines trying to keep Luffy (who wanted to come because it’s a _party_ ) out of trouble with help from Brook. At least the scotch and brandy they serve here is good, the wine too, according to Brook who has gone to fetch them both another glass.

“Zoro, I’m bored. Let’s dance!” Luffy demands, having watched the dancers and decided it looks to be a worthwhile endeavor.

Zoro simply gives his captain a look. Zoro does _not_ dance, not at the parties the crew throws themselves and not for this snooty crowd. Even if he were to dance, it would not be these intricate circles, but something wild like with those wolves on Skypeia. And Zoro knows his captain would dance no better than that either, which would be frowned upon by the other guests here.

Luckily, Zoro is saved from the possibility of Luffy ordering the swordsman to dance by the return of Brook and booze.

“Brook, I wanna dance! Zoro won’t dance with me,” Luffy pouts.

Brook chuckles at his captain’s expression, handing Zoro his drink and taking a sip of wine himself. “I would be delighted to dance with you, Luffy-san.”

Luffy’s face lights up and he drags Brook away towards the dance floor and the only reason the musician’s glass of wine doesn’t end up out there with them is his long reach.

Zoro watches them (or rather Brook, skull and ribcage above the others because Luffy is a bit on the short side) weave through the crowd to the edge of the dance floor, pausing a moment before gliding out among the other dancers. He hears the watchers start tittering as the two twirl around out there.

In the end, curiosity gets the better of the swordsman because these fancy-pants people are still talking behind hands and fans while tracking his captain and musician’s dance and Zoro can’t see why. He shoulders his way to the edge and can’t help the slight smile that curves his lips when he lays eye on his crewmates.

Luffy’s feet are perched upon Brook’s as the skeleton glides and twirls them through the waltz. It reminds Zoro of the parents with small children dancing together he’d seen at a couple of harvest festivals he’d stumbled across in his bounty hunter days. Even more so when that’s the kind of height difference Brook and Luffy share and Luffy looks up at his musician with that childishly happy smile of his. What makes it all the more amusing in Zoro’s eye is that their dancing looks the most graceful of all the dancers out there and Luffy doesn’t actually know how to dance.

Satisfied that his captain is happy and not causing a mess that the witch will somehow blame on him, Zoro wanders off to find a seat that still allows him to glimpse his nakama through the crowd instead of over.

Luffy’s laugh rings out as Brook spins him out and under the skeleton’s arm, gently so that Luffy won’t simply stretch from the force and smack into another dancer, before hopping up on Brook’s feet again to be swept away.

* * *

It’s been a long time since Brook has attended a ball, much less danced at one, yet here he is, Luffy working his special magic once more.

Brook had started attending balls in his home country at the age of fifteen, the representative of the poor faction from the academy on account of his good grades and manners. The first year or so Brook was a sought out dance partner, not to be wooed for a potential future marriage or anything, but because he was the best dancer among his peers. For one dance a night, the noble girls would overlook his lesser status, his beanpole figure, the rumors of his little eccentric tendencies, all of it for a dream-like waltz. By the time he was sixteen-almost-seventeen, the size difference and faltering coordination from his growth spurts had put a stop to that. By the time Brook was done growing, no proper noble girl wanted to dance with him, not when they would have to crank their heads back to look at his face or spend the dance looking at his waistline. So even when Brook was invited to balls on the merit of his military position, he still didn’t dance.

And now here he was, dancing at a ball with his young captain as if the brave soul was a small child. It was the best dance Brook could ever remember dancing. The sheer joy of it was more captivating than any young lady he danced with before or any he has seen strutting around this ball.

* * *

When the dance ends, partners bowing to each other, Zoro notes with interest that several of the spectating girls and those on the floor start to head for Brook. It morphs into smugness when the swordsman catches Sanji’s expression as his partner is one of those girls. Serves the ero-cook right.

“Again! Again, Brook!”

“Yohohoho, of course, Captain!”

The girls wilt a bit and turn to look for other partners. If Zoro had to guess, they had wanted to have a smooth dance like what Luffy did with Brook, not that they would get one. At least not until Luffy was done dancing as, Zoro was pleased to note, pervert though he may be, the Straw Hat musician valued the happiness of his captain over girls.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just got the image of Brook doing the parent dance with Luffy and had to write it. I wasn't sure originally if I wanted to do it from Zoro's spectating view or do a Brook's background in ballroom dancing view, so I ended up doing both, but mostly Zoro's spectating. I dunno, I just really liked the cute image of Brook and Luffy dancing together like a parent and small child. If any of you want to make or know of fan art like that, give me a link!


	24. Enjoy Your Ice Cream

Brook was on babysitting duty, for lack of a better term. His task for the afternoon was to oversee the youngest of the crew while in port and keep the trio out of trouble. To that end, Nami had kindly given him a small snack fund which the boys were now using to buy ice cream from a street vendor as he watched from a bench near the square’s fountain. It didn’t take long for them to come scampering back with their frosty sweet treats.

“Here! We got one for you too, Brook!” Luffy said, thrusting an ice cream cone of chocolate-vanilla swirl into the skeleton’s hand.

Brook accepted the cone and then stared at it contemplatively.

“Brook, aren’t you going to eat it? Did we get the wrong flavor?” Chopper asked when Brook failed to start eating it.

“Oh, no, no. Swirl is good,” Brook quickly reassured the boys.

“Then why aren’t you eating? It’s gonna drip and melt,” Luffy points out the tragedy waiting to happen and taking a lick of his own cone.

“I don’t have a tongue,” Brook points out.

“Yeah, so? You don’t have a lot of body parts,” Usopp replies, taking a large lick of his ice cream. Brook stares at the sniper pointedly. “Wha─? Oh, oooh. Right. Sorry. No tongue means you can’t lick the ice cream cone.”

“But if you don’t lick the ice cream, how do you normally eat it?” Chopper asks, trying to remember the last couple of times they’ve had ice cream.

“With a spoon.”

Luffy’s eyes light up at the reply and his hand is immediately stretching for the ice cream cart, causing the owner to give a startled yelp. Luffy’s arm snaps back into place in a moment, a spoon clutched in his hand.

“Here you go, Brook!” Luffy chirps, thrusting the spoon forward. “Now enjoy your ice cream!”

Brook just laughs at the semi-demand as he takes the spoon. He does enjoy his ice cream.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, so I was eating an ice cream cone the other day and it occurred to me that it'd be kind of hard to eat one without a tongue. Honestly, besides the fact that Brook doesn't even have a digestive system, eating should be really hard for him. He's got no tongue for licking, no cheeks to hold the food in while he chews, no lips for sucking or holding food. All he's got is teeth for chewing and biting. So I decided to have Brook face down the ice cream cone, because.


	25. Taller and Taller

“Come on, Brook! In here!”

Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper drag the newly acquired skeleton musician to the infirmary. Brook has to twist and duck quickly to avoid hitting his head on the doorframe as they pull him forward in their enthusiasm. He’s rattled his skull on enough doorframes as a teenager, no need to do it at 88 years old, thank you very much.

“Up against the doorframe, Brook!” Luffy says, pushing Brook into position.

“Stand up straight!” Chopper chirps.

“Shoes off first,” Usopp reminds his cohorts and they dive for Brook’s feet.

Brook yelps and grabs the top of the doorway as the boys lift him up and quickly set to devesting him of both shoes and socks. Brook knows he’s lightweight, but really? Can he not stay on his own two feet when _children_ decide to lift him up? At least Robin was kind enough to sprout a few arms from the wall to grab the back of his jacket and help steady him.

Robin giggles as she gets up from her seat at the desk to come towards them. “Have you even told Brook what you’re doing?” she asks the boys as they set the musician back down, sockless and shoeless.

“Oh, right!” Luffy turns to Brook with a wide grin. “We mark our heights on the infirmary door! So since you joined the crew, we gotta add yours too!”

“It’s fun to see who’s the tallest,” Usopp explains. “Though that’s obviously you now. Guess we’ll just see how much taller you are than everyone else.”

“It’s for medical purposes too!” Chopper says.

Brook just chuckles, looking at the marker lines on the doorframe with initials, a date, and the height written beneath them. “Well then, I suppose we should get to it. Although, I’m afraid I’m a bit tall to fit on the doorframe, seeing as I have to duck through the doorway.”

The boys’ faces drop for a moment.

“Yosh! We’ll get Franky to make the door taller!” Luffy exclaims, dashing for the door to call for his shipwright. They mark their heights on the doorframe, so if it isn’t the right size for the task then it’s the shipwright’s job to fix it.

“I don’t think we need to go that far, Captain-san,” Robin says with a smile, a sprouted arm pulling Luffy up short. “We’ll just have to mark Brook’s height on the wall. That is, if you don’t mind, Chopper.”

“That’s fine. I wouldn’t want to make more work for Franky if we don’t have to,” Chopper amiably agrees.

With that decided, Brook’s pushed up against the wall and told not to cheat and stand flatfooted (not that he’d actually tried to stretch his height, the boys are just used to pushing the rule on each other). Robin sprouts more arms from the wall to pass up the marker and flatten Brook’s afro so that they can mark the height of the top of his skull. Once the mark is upon the wall, Brook is allowed to sit down and pull his socks and shoes back on while Robin helps Chopper measure how high the mark is and Luffy and Usopp eagerly await the answer.

“266 centimeters!” Chopper exclaims and Robin neatly writes it down so that the new line matches the rest.

“Whoa! You’re so tall, Brook!” Luffy exclaims and the boys go on and on about it while Brook just chuckles along.

* * *

It’s two years later. They’ve been reunited and already saved an island. It’s as they restock the Sunny to finally sail the waters of the New World that Chopper looks at the marks on the infirmary doorframe and decides they need to get new ones. It takes a bit of pestering, but eventually he gets the crew together and gets the new measurements under way.

Chopper’s brain-point hasn’t gained a single centimeter and neither has Robin, though the archeologist remains unfazed by the lack of progress. Nami has gotten a centimeter taller, though Sanji says she’s grown more in other ways and she beats him over the head for this. Luffy and Usopp have both grown two centimeters and Chopper wonders if it’s because they’re the same age because Zoro and Sanji have also grown the same amount (three centimeters) and are also the same age as the other. The swordsman also hasn’t stopped trying to hold his extra centimeter of height over the cook’s head. Franky’s modifications have given him another fifteen centimeters and he claims to just be that much more super. It’s Brook’s change in height that is the surprise. Somehow the dead musician has gained eleven centimeters, a gain only second to Franky’s modifications.

“How’d a shitty skeleton like you get taller?!” Sanji demands.

“Yohohoho, why I met a very nice doctor who was kind enough to help me straighten out and properly align these old bones of mine while I was on tour,” Brook replies as he pulls his boots back on.

“You’re kidding,” Nami says.

“No, it makes sense,” Chopper answers, not looking up from where he is updating his medical records. “Proper posture and getting all the cricks out of places like the spine can make people stand a bit taller.”

“But enough to pick up another eleven centimeters?” Usopp questions.

“Normally, no. But Brook’s already so tall that proportionally, it’s not as strange or amazing as it seems,” Chopper explains.

“Oh, so it’s a mystery,” Luffy says with a nod. “Will Brook get even taller?”

“Yohohoho, I don’t think so, Luffy-san. At 90 years old, I think I’m quite done growing,” Brook says with a chuckle. “So I’ll leave it to you kids to get taller and taller.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yep, according to Oda, Brook got taller during the time-skip, which only gets reasonably explained by realigning his bones for better posture and stuff as you can see mentioned in some other fics. I figured I might as well go for the crew's reactions to this change and how they'd know with the cute practice of heights in the doorframe. Also had mention Brook having his shoes taken off because he wears semi-heels all the time. I mean, sure he's missing a bit of height from flesh padding, but he's still really tall... and he wears heels. Also a bit of hinting at one of my On Tour chapters will eventually be, whenever I write it.


	26. Care So Much

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: This one is a bit edgier and angstier.

The crew waited in the galley in a tense silence, unsure of what to say or even how to say it. Their eyes would track to the infirmary door every now and then, only to flicker away. Sanji was making a light snack and preparing for dinner while everyone nursed a drink and Zoro cleaned the blood off of Brook’s sword.

All attention snaps to the door when it opens and Chopper comes plodding out, shutting the door and leaving the musician inside.

“He’ll be okay,” Chopper assures them. “Brook just needs some time to get himself together.”

There is relief as the tension ebbs away, but there are still questions silently directed at the doctor about the newest member’s well-being.

Chopper sighs, placing the book he’d brought out, tags sticking out of the pages, on the table, taking a seat next to Robin. “You don’t understand what kind of miracle it is that Brook can function like a normal,” eyes around the table are rolled, “if a little eccentric,” Chopper concedes, “person. Enforced unwilling isolation over longer periods of time aren’t healthy for human minds, or any social creature really. This book,” Chopper pats the book he’d brought, the one Robin has opened to read the marked passages, “is a study on trying to help people recover from such situations and dealing with the psychoses that develop in the victims.”

“So?” Usopp ventures to ask.

“Many of these victims had troubles with social interactions to an astonishing degree,” Robin says, eyes not leaving the book. “They were insane. Some quite violently so.”

There are shudders at the memory of the ship full of men barely clinging to life in the foggy night, the one with its crew's blood splashed across its decks… and their musician. It had shocked them to have to fight against their newest member to save the lives of the other crew. They weren't strangers to death, but they also didn't condone killing when the other side had given up.

“Right, and the longest any of the recorded victims had been isolated was six months,” Chopper sadly continued. “Brook was alone for _one hundred_ times longer than any of those cases. Longer than any of us were even alive.”

And they are starting to truly realize that what Brook has been through is beyond what they can imagine because they haven’t even been alive long enough to grasp that stretch of time.

“But he can’t have been alone the entire time, right?” Franky asks, subdued for once.

“Right. Brook told me he encountered other occupied ships, but that’s what makes Brook’s general state of mind more amazing,” Chopper says. “We’re the only who’ve been nice, treated him well, in fifty years. Everyone else either fled in fear or tried to kill him, yet he’s still able to be nice to us, to bond and have positive social interactions with us. He does well with us, but all of those negative interactions and years of isolation have left their marks on his mind.”

“So why’re you telling us all this, Chopper?” Luffy asks. He doesn’t get it, but he’s trying because this has to do with his crew’s happiness and safety.

“To help explain my reactions earlier.”

They all turn to the infirmary door in surprise. They hadn’t heard the door open nor the usual distinctive clack of Brook’s heels on the floorboards to bring the musician out and to his position leaning on the wall next to the doorway. But they do notice the stiff way Brook holds himself, how his gaze remains on his feet and thin arms clutch at bony elbows, how the blood has been wiped off his bones, but still stains his only outfit, not a drop of it his.

“I try, but I’m not always all here. There’s no use in hating the past, what’s happened to me.” Brook laughs, but it’s bitter and hollow and not like him at all to them. “I’ve already done that and gotten nowhere, but sometimes… sometimes it catches up to me. That’s when it’s hard to still be sane. I… the conditions were just right… no, just _wrong_ earlier and I lost myself. There… there were a few occasions where I-I wiped out entire crews back then. They would come aboard while I was sleeping and they-they’d open the coffins of my crew, my _nakama_ ,” Brook pauses, emotion choking his non-existent throat, “and root through them without a care.” They could hear the cold fury at such actions in his voice. “In my fury, I’d chase them back to their ships and then… then I would prepare another ghost ship to haunt the Florian Triangle,” he whispers, horror at his own actions apparent. “I was so afraid of losing what little I had left of them that I maimed and killed others. With that fog and how they had trapped you all and were going to kill you, I just… snapped. I went back to that horrible person I never wanted to be again!” Brook sobs, folding in on himself even further. “I’m sorry.”

A rubbery arm loops around Brook’s spine and pulls him to kneel at the table and be embraced by his seated captain.

“It’s okay, Brook,” Luffy soothes, face pressed into his musician’s ribcage. “You were scared of being lonely again and mad that they tried to hurt your nakama, but don’t worry, we’re not gonna die. Not until we accomplish our dreams. You don’t have to kill anyone to protect us.”

The rest of the crew gathers round to add their own embrace and Brook cries because he has nakama again and they care so much.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's as angsty and/or dark as I'll write. You probably won't see much of anything like this again in here, but do tell me how you like it (I still don't know how I feel about this myself). No clue how accurate Chopper's medical stuff is (I'm too lazy to research and mind stuff is inexact/circumstantial anyways), but Brook had it bad for a very long time, so there's bound to be some dark crazy in there buried very deep under his in-the-moment general happiness. And I do think Brook could wipe out a crew as his appearance would throw people off/scare them and his high speeds allow him to strike before enemies know what's going on, taking out many without them realizing it. Not all crews who make it to the end area are Supernova level or even sailed all the way through Paradise as they could be from a Grand Line island, meaning Brook could be stronger (that's my excuse anyways).


	27. Not Yet Forgotten

“Is something wrong, Robin-san?”

They were a few days out from Thriller Bark and Robin had been working tirelessly in her free moments to finish replicating the Rumbar Pirate log books. The archeologist had come to him several times already, needing clarification on parts that had been smudged or damaged, but her current expression was quite different from those times.

“You’ve been to Ohara?” she asked, voice shaking, eyes searching.

“Of course! It’s one of the most famous islands in the West Blue! How could adventurers like us not have gone?” Brook exclaimed, patting the mast bench next to him in an invitation for her to sit and hear the stories from his own mouth.

“It was toward the end of our time in the West Blue that we finally visited,” Brook started once Robin had taken the offered seat. “At the time, we were looking for legends of unfound treasures in the West Blue or information about the Grand Line to try and decide if we were going to cross Reverse Mountain or continue adventuring in our home sea. Where better to search for such obscure information than the legendary Tree of Knowledge?”

Robin smiled at the praise for the library she grew up in.

“Was Laboon following your ship yet?”

“Ah, Chopper-san,” Brook greeted the small doctor as the reindeer clambered up the bench and into Robin’s lap, content to be cuddled by the archeologist as she listened to the story of her lost home island. “No, not yet. We met Laboon three days out from Ohara. Anyways, we went to Ohara to find information to help us decide where to sail to next. When we arrived at port, the townsfolk were in quite a panic. Our ship back then was as big as the one you found me on, except it was full of living pirates, and Ohara didn’t have that big a population, so their fear of us was understandable. We didn’t want to cause any more trouble than we had to, so only Captain Yorki and I went ashore at first. We were met on the docks by the head librarian, a fellow by the name of Batley Bruce. Gruff man, he obviously had experience dealing with pirates coming to visit as he set out some rules for us to use the library or the Marines would be called in.”

“No attacking or pillaging. Pirates are only allowed on the main road. Any damages to the books must be paid for,” Robin recited, remembering watching Professor Clover give the same rules to a crew or two in her childhood.

“Yohohoho, indeed. We were, of course, more than agreeable,” Brook said with a nod. “And what a time we had there. We did start out looking at books on the Grand Line and legends of the West Blue, but then Marrel found the music section and we were goners. Such a collection! There were books on crafting and maintaining instruments, histories of instruments and songs, and the sheet music! Shelves and shelves of music we’d never played or even heard before. It was to die for, though I wasn’t dead yet, yohohoho!”

Robin and Chopper giggled at the reverse skull joke.

“Did you get to play any of it?” Robin asked out of curiosity, wondering if the old skeleton had some of those books (at least their content) stored in that old skull of his.

“Oh yes, we did! It was marvelous. I think we must have played through several books from around the world before we left. Certainly got scolded several times for making such a ruckus, but the librarians were more than happy to hear us play, I believe. I’m not so sure that it wasn’t the first time they’d actually heard many of the songs in their collection.” Brook chuckled. “In fact, if I remember correctly, our musical merry-making actually got more of the locals to visit the Tree than normal, at least according to one of the librarians.”

Brook paused to think for a moment, then shook his head with a chuckle. “The memory of Ohara that stands out the most though is Jorgen-san’s ‘donation’ of his Rumbar Originals compilation. Now _that_ is a story.”

“Tell us, tell us!” Chopper pleaded, while Robin tilted her head in consideration (the book sounded _familiar_ ).

“It was our last night on Ohara, though we didn’t know it at the time, and we were having a bit of a party. You see a young man by the name of Clover,” Brook noticed Robin straighten up at the name, but continued the tale, “had just passed some big scholar’s exam. Of course, no party is complete without alcohol, so there was a fair amount of drinking going on. Poor Jorgen-san, he got into a bit of an argument with Clover-san about… something. To be honest, I can’t remember what about. Anyways, they argued and both being drunk, made a contest of who was right. Jorgen-san bet the compilation of music he’d been making for the past month or so of whatever we played on ship, whether it was an original composition or a new arrangement of an old song. Against that, Clover-san bet one of the library’s books, or rather to pay for Jorgen-san to take one of the books. Needless to say, Clover-san won and got the Rumbar Originals, as Jorgen-san called it. Jorgen-san spent the next morning trying to bargain it back from Clover-san through his hangover until we had to leave around lunchtime as a Marine ship had been spotted heading our way. The crew never let Jorgen-san live it down that he had seen to the preservation of the song _Black Handkerchief of Happiness_ beyond our crew.”

“Was it bad?” Chopper innocently asked.

Robin giggled. “I would say it was silly, not bad. At least the lyrics were, I don’t know about the tune.”

“Yohohoho, you got to read that book?” Brook questioned. It didn’t surprise him at all that Robin had been to Ohara and the Tree of Knowledge being the avid historian she was, but he was curious as to why she would have read a book of music.

“Yes, I have. I had almost forgotten it,” Robin replied and seeing the looks of curiosity directed at her, continued, “I saw Professor Clover looking at it fondly once and asked him about it. He said it was a one-of-a-kind book written by a pirate, so I read it once out of curiosity.” Robin didn’t mention that she’d snuck the book away from Professor Clover a couple of times to cheer herself up with the lyrics of the sillier songs after some tough days. “In fact, if I remember correctly, _Black Handkerchief of Happiness_ ’s composition was credited to you, Brook.”

“Yohohoho, it was indeed composed by me,” Brook nodded. “The crew never cared for it much as I used it to wake their lazy behinds up in the morning. They liked to complain about it and act as if the song was horrible, but really I just played it loud and lively. It’s been _years_ since I’ve played it,” Brook said with a wistful sigh.

“Can you play it or us now?” Chopper asked.

“Certainly!” Brook said, jumping up and grabbing his violin. Robin and Chopper listened as he sang and played. The lyrics were indeed silly and the tune energetic, but they didn’t see any problem with the song (not until they got the same experience out of it as the Rumbar Pirates did a few days later).

“You know, I’d like to go back someday. Maybe fill some books with the music I know and donate it all to the Tree of Knowledge, spend a few days going through their own collection,” Brook said as he sat back down.

Robin’s eyes got teary at the simple wish to re-visit her home island. “It’s… it’s not there anymore.”

“Oh?”

“Twenty years ago Ohara was wiped off the map by the World Government. My home island is gone and its name was dragged through the mud, demonized by them too,” Robin said as the tears started to fall.

“Robin-san,” Brook murmured, well familiar with the pain of loss. He wiped away her tears as she cuddled Chopper closer and he pulled her in close to his boney side.

“Thank you for the stories, Brook,” Robin said, looking up at him with a watery smile. “It’s nice to know that Ohara as I remember it, as a place of learning and knowledge with good people, is not yet forgotten.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is a semi-continuation of the chapter Old Logs and Maps where Robin finds that the Rumbar Pirates went to Ohara while restoring the old logs. I mean, I think it would be weird if in a minimum of 18 years at sea in the West Blue (probably at least 10 of those as a pirate) Brook never visited Ohara, an island famous for the Tree of Knowledge. And the stories of that visit make for another nice bonding point between Robin and Brook. I also really liked the idea/head-canon that Clover won a music book off a Rumbar Pirate that contained sheets for Black Handkerchief of Happiness. FYI, Brook also hasn't gotten to the part in the Straw Hat log that details Robin's past and issues with Buster Calls.


	28. Once a Soldier

They shouted out in worry and fear when Brook was disarmed, his blade forced from his grasp, but the skeleton himself was unworried, ducking low beneath the next blow and scooping up a fallen marine’s rifle.

Then to their disbelieving eyes, Brook wreaked havoc with the scavenged rifle. After dispatching the marine that had disarmed him, Brook opened up the distance and began shooting. He wasn’t as accurate as Usopp (not that anyone could be expected to match Sogeking, King of the Snipers), but he didn’t miss many of his shots and was reliably taking down marines as he worked his way towards his sword. Brook was forced to acquire a new gun (it took too long to get a Marine cutlass when the guard swept over and around the hand) a few times due to depleting the ammo before he finally got his sword back in hand.

Not long after, the battle was finished and the Straw Hats sailed away, leaving behind defeated marines.

“I didn’t know you could shoot so well, Brook,” Usopp said in surprise.

“Yohohoho, well, I was once a soldier, Usopp-san,” Brook replied as he inspected his blade for any damage and cleaned it.

“But you’re a swordsman,” Zoro pointed out, doing the same for his three blades beside Brook.

“Yes, because I prefer fighting with a sword. I’m much better with a blade than a gun, but having been in the military and having attended a military academy in my youth, I am familiar and proficient in using guns as well,” Brook explained. “Though it has been decades since I’ve used a gun.”

“That was some pretty good shooting for being so out of practice,” Usopp complemented. “I don’t think many people would retain good accuracy after so long.”

“Yohohoho, it’s all muscle memory, Usopp-san. Or rather just memory, seeing as I don’t have any muscles, yohohoho!”

Usopp just grinned and shook his head at the joke, wondering what other little skills Brook has that they haven’t yet learned about.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It just kind of occurred to me that Brook probably knows how to use a gun with some proficiency being an ex-military man as I would think it would be a part of basic training, so I wrote a little something to reflect that.


	29. Lost and Found

“Beri for your thoughts, Captain?”

Luffy turned from where he was sitting on his special seat to see Brook climbing past Sunny’s mane to join him. Luffy turned his attention back to the moonlit waves and rubbed the scar on his chest.

“Am I… am I a good captain?” Luffy quietly asked.

“Why would you ask such a thing, Luffy-san?” Brook asked in turn. He didn’t want to offer a simple platitude to his young (so very young) captain, so he needed to know the boy’s doubts.

“Nearly half the crew has tried to leave at some point. They wouldn’t leave if I was a good captain, right?” Luffy said, doubt coloring his voice.

“Oh Luffy-san,” Brook murmured, sitting down behind Luffy and pulling the boy into his lap. “Not at all. You’re a wonderful captain. A better one than I ever was. Would you like to know why?”

Luffy nodded, eyes staying fixed forward, but he pulled the musician’s arms a little tighter around him.

“I was a good captain. I could lead my men, see to it that we moved forward, but I was never the one who held us together. That was always Yorki-san, I just brought a sense of order to the ship. A composer writing down the arrangement while Yorki-san selected the instruments, the tempo, the soul of our song. He was a wonderful captain, and so are you. A person like you is a wonderful captain because you find those of us who are lost and broken and you make us _whole_ again, give us a place to fit in. You save us from the darkness that plagues our lives and bring us light like the sun. We could hardly ask for more,” Brook said, giving Luffy a squeeze.

“But they try to leave─”

“But you don’t let them go,” Brook said firmly. “ _That_ is the most important part. When any one of us gives up on ourselves, lets outside forces drag us away, you still take our hand and hold on. You never let our problems swallow us.”

Luffy remained silent in Brook’s lap, thinking.

“And because you refuse to let go, we can have faith that it will be okay, that our sun will shine on us another day,” Brook said. “Things change, but for us, you being there, caring for us, is _constant_.”

Luffy smiled. “Thanks, Brook,” he sleepily mumbled, relaxing back against Brook. Luffy wasn’t worried about whether or not he was a good captain anymore, so the late night was catching up with him. “We’ll get Sanji back.”

“Of course, Captain,” Brook agreed. He knew, the best captains had crews of the lost and found, and Luffy, Luffy could find the most lost of souls and give them a home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Luffy isn't much of one to worry about stuff like this, but I feel like he does sometimes and Brook is probably the best to reassure him that he is a good captain, being the only one to have actually liked a previous captain seeing as Robin used other crews and Nami hates Arlong's guts. Timeline is on the way to Big Mom's territory as it took a few days to get there.


	30. Sing with Me

“ _All my life I’ve been lookin’ around_

_For someone who won’t let me down_

_Oh darling, all I need from you_

_Is for you to say you love me too_

_I don’t need fancy diamond rings_

_None of those glittery, pretentious things_

_Just give me your heart_

_And promise we’ll never be apart_

_Oh darling, for you_

_There’s nothing I wouldn’t do_ ”

Robin leaned back from the mic as Brook continued the smooth, crooner’s tune on the piano, eyes scanning the crowd for trouble, but only finding entranced faces. She understood the feeling. Brook made music absolutely captivating, whether you were listening or singing with him.

“ _Oh honey, you’re my golden girl_

_More precious than the finest pearl_

_I’d sail the stormiest of seas_

_Just to hear your voice on the breeze_

_I promise to love you true_

_If you will love me too_ ”

Brook crooned and rolling out a few more chords, he brought the song to an end. It took a moment for the audience to come back to themselves and start applauding. Robin watched as money was quietly put into Brook’s overturned top hat next to the stage or waiters were flagged over to be given some money and whispered instructions on who it was supposed to go to. They looked to be making quite a sum, even with the owner’s ten percent cut of their earnings. Nami would be pleased.

That was the reason they were even in this fancier version of a bar: money. The Straw Hats were not a crew that was good at holding on to money, so when they came into port today, Nami had set the more responsible crew members the task of earning more. Usopp and Franky had teamed up to offer handy man and fix-it services (Robin was sure their customers were having a time reining in their eccentric designs, or at least Franky’s anyways) and Nami was out picking pirate pockets. Sanji and Chopper had wanted to apply their skills, but Nami had vetoed them, citing that they would have to buy supplies to doctor and cook for others, defeating the purpose of the money-making scheme (even more so when they would attract every person who couldn’t pay to be served anyways, a feature the crew loved about them, but couldn’t currently afford). Robin had planned to pick pockets as well when Brook had approached her about singing after dinner that night in an upscale bar. It had been an interesting proposal, so she had agreed and here they were, in formal evening wear entrancing a crowd of socialite drinkers and making a pretty beri for it.

Brook had taken about an hour before dinner to coach her through a few songs and how to lose herself into his music enough that the lyrics would just come to her. It was a surreal yet enjoyable experience to listen and somehow just know when and what to sing. Robin certainly never thought herself much of a singer, but like their captain had a way with people, Brook had a way with music that brought out the best sound, gently leading her through the crooning songs of love and loss to intertwine with the piano and his own voice.

It was late when they took their leave, earnings tucked away into several of Brook’s coat pockets with a small stack of notes tucked away on Robin’s person, and they sedately walked back to the docks and Sunny through the illuminated streets.

“That was quite fun. We should do it again sometime,” Robin said, indulging Brook’s gentleman nature and walking tucked into his side.

“It would be my pleasure,” Brook replied, fingers still playing an unheard tune on her shoulder. “Thank you for coming out to sing with me.”

Robin just smiled as they continued home, listening to him hum.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It might come across a bit shippy, but eh, a nice evening out between friends kind of ends up like that. Between Robin and Nami, I think Robin has the better crooner voice and that was the kind of song that I was using for a theme here, so more Robin and Brook bonding. Lyrics are all stuff I made up.


	31. Still Feel Hunger

Another morning, another gourmet breakfast devoured like a pack of starving animals.

Sanji sometimes wondered why he put in the effort to make such nice meals when only the ladies had any manners at all. Then he’d remember the happy faces and laughter around the table, the compliments to his food (usually in the form of requests for more), and smile as he cleared the dishes.

Things had only become more lively (and messy) with the addition of Brook.

Considering that the old pirate was easily twice the age of anyone else on board, Brook was easily dragged into any and all childish antics at the table (if he didn’t instigate them himself). If the kids were feeling celebratory and wanted to dance on the table with chopsticks up their noses, Brook egged them on by providing music for dancing. If the crew was called to the table before food or drink was served, he’d start tapping and banging a rhythm with the silverware while calling for the meal, Luffy, Chopper, and Usopp joining in. And for a guy who lacked lungs, Brook had easily swept the belching contest the guys had started (and all been summarily kicked for) at lunch yesterday.

And don’t even get Sanji started on the mess Brook could make of himself during meals. They’d had curry last night and while Sanji had been happy to hear that it was the best curry Brook had ever had, the absolute mess Brook had made not only of himself, but also of his seat at the table, had Sanji seriously considering only serving curry once every other week, if that (Sanji couldn’t say never when curry was Brook’s favorite). He’d seen toddlers make less of a mess at Baratie than Brook did that evening.

At least the old skeleton was trying to make up for that disgrace by helping with the dishes this morning. Sanji wasn’t allowing Brook to wash them (wet bone did not grip wet ceramic very well at all), but instead had him ferrying dry dishes to the sink or the cabinets depending on their state of cleanliness. A task the Brook was pleasantly useful for when his long reach and slender figure allowed him to easily work around Sanji without getting in the cook’s way, slipping dishes into overhead cabinets without needing to press up against the counter or sink (or Sanji) below. It also didn’t hurt that Brook’s music selection for humming this morning was North Blue waltzes that Sanji fondly remembered listening to while visiting his mother.

“You know, Sanji-san, it amazes me that you can make so much food all on your own and still have it taste so delicious. You are an amazing cook,” Brook complimented him as the cook began pots of mid-morning tea and coffee.

“Just doing my job,” Sanji casually returned. “What kind of tea do you think would be good this morning?”

“Rose hip,” Brook answered after a moment’s thought. “And while you, and the rest of this crew, may consider it ‘just your job,’ that does not make what you do on a daily basis any less impressive.”

Sanji stilled for a moment as he placed the rose hips in the hot water. They hadn’t had Brook with them for long, but it didn’t take long for Sanji (or the rest of the crew, for that matter) to understand that when Brook pursued a subject, there was often some bit of wisdom he wished to impart or a point he wished to make. The fact that Brook had caught him alone like this gave Sanji a feeling it was something he (nor anyone else) would want to hear or abide by.

“It is also my experience that to make so many dishes and in such large proportions requires a corresponding amount of provisions. Something that is less worrisome when the hold for said provisions is also very large. Though even that cannot prevent the stores from running dry,” Brook observed and Sanji went taunt as a wire.

“You don’t have to worry,” the cook grit out around his cigarette. “I manage our supplies carefully and we’re good about fishing up more to store in the aquarium.”

“This is the Grand Line, Sanji-san, where, as we both know, nothing is guaranteed,” Brook pushed.

“What do you want me to say?!” Sanji hissed. He didn’t like thinking about his crew (his _true_ family) running out of food or starving.

“That if, in your wisdom as the ship’s cook, you fear we may run out of food on this ship, you will spread my portion amongst the rest of you,” Brook firmly stated.

“No!” Sanji shouted. “I’m not letting anyone starve, ever!”

“And you won’t!” Brook vehemently replied. “I can’t starve because I have no stomach!”

“This is a bad time for one of your skull jokes,” Sanji tried weakly. He wouldn’t consider letting anyone go without, ever.

“It’s not a joke, Sanji-san, but a fact,” Brook stated evenly, his calm returned. “I have no stomach. No flesh in need of sustenance. That first dinner here on Lion-chan, I probably ate more than I had in the past fifty years combined.”

Sanji shivered. He didn’t want to hear why Brook should be put through that hell while the rest of the crew slowly made their way towards it. He didn’t want to hear how Brook had already been in it for longer than Sanji was even alive and would willingly go back. Even more so when inside him, the little boy who starved on a rock was pleased with the idea that he could stretch out the time before true starvation set in again without hurting anyone.

“I’m not going to let anyone starve,” Sanji stated once more, trembling.

Brook sighed. He hadn’t wanted to use this argument, but he wasn’t above using it either. “Sanji-san, I cannot starve to death, otherwise I would already be dead again. I’m asking you to cut me off if, and only if, you fear our food will not stretch far enough because _I don’t want to watch my crew die around me_ **_again_**.”

Sanji closed his eyes and shuddered, his head hanging down.

“That’s a low blow, Brook,” he murmured, knowing that he’d lost this argument, never had a chance of winning it in the first place, really.

“I would say I’m sorry for bullying you into breaking your code, but I am not. Not when it just might save your lives.”

There was nothing Sanji could say to that. He wasn’t entirely sure he wanted an apology anyway. Not when everyone on the crew had their demons and Brook was trying to fight his own while sidestepping Sanji’s as best he could with reassurances that Sanji’s demons could not sink their teeth into the skeleton musician.

Sanji blew out a puff of smoke. “ _Only_ if it becomes necessary. I know you still feel hunger.”

“That’s all I ask,” Brook solemnly said.

“Now, what shall I play?” the musician asked, back to being bright and chipper. Sanji knew this was Brook’s apology for stressing him out.

“Do you know _The Blue Corda Tango_?” Sanji asked, remembering the dramatic song once played by some traveling musicians on Baratie.

“Of course!”

Brook started playing, flowing from long smooth notes that blended together to sharp accented notes that had his bow moving like the thrusts of his sword and back again, and Sanji felt himself relaxing. Maybe this contingency Brook had forced upon him would come into play, maybe it wouldn’t. But Sanji was determined to do all he could so it wouldn’t because no one should go hungry when he was on board.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've had the idea of doing this confrontation on what to do when rations get low since basically the start of this fic, but only got around to fleshing it out since hypnotic Doll on FanFiction requested I do something between Sanji and Brook. Also slipped in info from volume 86 SBS that Brook likes curry on a semi-suggestion from gregorian12 also on FanFiction.


	32. Slap Jack

“I would like to play this ‘Slap Jack’ game,” Momonosuke said, looking up from the small book of card games. It seemed a game worthy of a warrior with a test of reflexes and tolerance of pain.

“Pick something else, we don’t play Slap Jack,” Usopp replied, shuffling the deck of cards.

“Why not?”

“You have read the rules, right?” Usopp asked and received a nod in reply. “We have a cyborg with giant metal hands on board, a swordsman who lifts weights that way a ton or more with a single hand, and a rubber captain who doesn’t feel or understand blunt force trauma. Now imagine winning a round by getting your hand on the Jack before them.”

It only took a moment for Momonosuke’s face to turn to one of horror and the young samurai clutched his hands to his chest. He would not have a hand after such a game!

“Who wins such games?” the young lord in disguise asked in morbid curiosity.

“Brook,” Usopp succinctly answered.

“The skeleton? Would not his hands be crushed into powder by such a game?” Momonosuke asked in confusion. The skeleton musician had hands the last he’d seen him.

“If he didn’t bend the rules a bit,” Usopp agreed. Seeing Momonosuke’s look of curiosity, he continued, “Brook grabs the Jack off the deck before the others can pin it and since we don’t want our musician to lose his hands, it’s considered valid play. I mean, if he’s got time to snatch the card, his hand would be the one actually on top of it if he played normally. Or at least, that’s the reasoning we used to justify his play style,” Usopp said with a shrug. “Now half the crew doesn’t play for the safety of their hands and the other half doesn’t play because Brook always wins.”

Momonosuke nodded in understanding. “He is quite fast and skilled. Might we play this ‘Go Fish’ instead?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I got inspired to do card games on the Sunny and it occurred to me that Slap Jack would be a nightmare to play with Luffy, Franky, and Zoro (Sanji's not on the list because as a cook he protects his hands and thus wouldn't play with the other three). I mean, playing with normal people gets your hand red from the sting, but with those three? Your hand would be crushed! But Brook is damn fast, so now there's this. I thought about using Law instead of Momonosuke, but I don't think Law would play a kid's card game like Slap Jack.


	33. This Is Not Justice

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: This one is a bit edgy again.

It was his first time out to sea and the convoy Brook had been assigned to had run afoul of pirates while protecting a diplomatic envoy from their kingdom.

The battle was brief, but Brook’s heart pounded as he fought real pirates for the first time, blade flickering in familiar patterns yet feeling the unfamiliar resistance of flesh and bone as his blade cut deeper than he’d ever driven it before. Brook didn’t escape the battle unscathed himself, seeing as his tall frame had drawn the attention of their attackers, and had a gash on his arm for his troubles.

But now the battle was over, the pirates easily routed by the mostly experienced convoy and fleeing without thought to the men they left behind, both dead and alive. The dead bodies were disposed of and the living ruffians were tied up.

As for Brook, he was perched on the railing, watching the older officers go about the clean-up while the apprentice to the convoy’s doctor patched up his arm. He didn’t notice the odd look the convoy’s captain was giving him nor that he was softly humming a funeral dirge as the pirate’s bodies were off loaded to be swallowed by the sea.

“You did well today, kid,” a gruff voice said as a rough hand slapped down on Brook’s shoulder.

“Ah, thank you, Yuris-san,” Brook timidly replied to the more experienced soldier, fiddling with the hilt of his sword.

“I didn’t think a beanpole like you would be able to fight so well,” Yuris said with a laugh.

“Well, I was near the top of my class,” Brook offered with a shy smile. “Yuris-san, what are we going to do with the pirates we’ve caught?”

“Well, kid, Trevor will check them for bounties, on the off chance they’ve got one seeing as only captains usually get a bounty out here in the Blues. If they’ve got a bounty, we’ll toss ‘em in the brig and turn ‘em in once we reach port to split the bounty among the convoy members,” Yuris explained. “Makes for a nice bonus, though it doesn’t happen often.”

“And if they don’t have a bounty, Yuris-san?” Brook asked, nervous of the answer.

“Overboard they go. We don’t have the rations or supplies for extra mouths that can’t be trusted to earn their keep.”

“I see,” Brook said with a nod, looking at the scowling and spitting prisoners.

“Report, Lieutenant Conver!” the Captain ordered, standing before the line of bound up pirates.

“Sir! No bounties among the lot!”

“Alright, then overboard it is with these scoundrels,” the Captain commanded. 

And so the first of the pirates was brought to the rails of the ship, the ropes tying him up taken off while a soldier held firmly on to each of his arms, and then his throat was slit and his body tossed overboard.

Brook squeaked at the cold indifference with which the pirate was killed. It was one thing to take a life in battle and another entirely to kill prisoners in cold blood.

Yuris’s hand on Brook’s shoulder tightened. “I know it ain’t pretty, kid. But if we let these rats go alive, chances are they’ll go out and kill and loot again. Not to mention we’ll get court martialed for going against the captain’s orders.”

Brook just trembled under the weathered hand. He had thought being thrown overboard meant they would be left in the water to swim with hope that someone might take pity on them, not this! Brook felt sick to his stomach watching the cycle repeat itself with each pirate that was brought forward.

Then came the child.

He couldn’t have been much older than eleven or twelve, a cabin boy if Brook had to guess, and he struggled and screamed with tears and snot running down his face.

“No! Don’t! I won’t be a pirate no more, I promise!” the boy flailed and wiggled as best he could to get out of the soldiers’ grip as they brought him to the bloodied rail.

The child’s ropes were undone and his head brought out over the waves as a scream of terror left his throat.

“STOP!”

The deck went still and silent, only the constant roar of the waves to be heard.

Eyes were drawn to Brook, standing tall from the rail he’d been sitting on, fists clenched and trembling at his sides. He didn’t remember standing, barely even realized it was his own roaring voice that had called out for an end to what he considered madness.

The Captain glared at the young man and asked in a bladed voice, “Is there a problem?”

Brook trembled under the glare, but he’d already protested the Captain’s order, might as well finish what he started.

“He’s just a child, sir. Surely we don’t need to kill a child?” Brook pleaded.

The Captain simply frowned. “That does not change that he is a pirate. I’ve seen rascals like this one kill good men. This is the fate of a pirate.”

“But sir─”

“Do not argue with me, Petty Officer,” the Captain snapped. “For your insubordination, you will be the one to kill him.”

Brook trembled, fists clenching tighter. As a soldier of his kingdom, he was obligated to follow his commanding officer’s orders.

But this… this was wrong.

“Don’t just stand there! Hop to it!”

Brook took a wooden step forward, then another. Too soon he was standing, looming, over a child that barely came any higher than his knee.

_I can’t do this. I can’t! This is… this is wrong. So wrong! He’s just a child!_

“Draw your sword, soldier,” the Captain ordered, having taken the place of the man holding the boy’s right arm.

Brook’s hand shook as he drew his sword, the scrape of steel causing the boy to whimper.

Brook looked at the small, trembling back before him and took a breath.

“This is not justice,” he solemnly stated, then swung and pushed the small body overboard.

The Captain yelped as the hilt of Brook’s sword cracked against his wrists and he released the boy, the soldier holding the child’s other arm letting go in response to the attack on the commanding officer. The boy yelped as well as he fell into the water, coming up again in the wake of the ship and doggedly swimming away from the ship as fast as he could, constantly ducking under the waves for safety from the few pot shots taken at him.

Brook allowed his sword to clatter to the deck as he went down to his knees, another soldier’s rifle held to his head. By the code of military conduct, what he had done was wrong. But in his heart, Brook knew that it was right. He might die for it, but at least he wouldn’t have to _live_ knowing he had killed a child in cold blood. His only regret, should he die, was that he wouldn’t get to sail as a musician of the sea with Yorki.

“You _dare_ ─!” the Captain growled.

“Yes, I dare,” Brook hissed in reply, returning the Captain’s burning gaze. “I joined the military to protect people and serve my country. Killing children in cold blood fits _neither_ of those!”

The last thing Brook ever remembered of that day was the Captain’s red, outraged face as he roared incoherently and the glint of sun on steel before the splitting pain in his skull. The young soldier awoke four days later in the infirmary with a pounding headache, a fractured skull, and a new captain.

Apparently, it only took one bravely kind soul to spur the rest into overthrowing the tyrant.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This started under the idea "Brook should save a pirate cabin boy from being killed while he worked for the military" and somehow turned into the story of how he got his skull fracture/scar. I think it works in the end and kind of goes with Rumbar motto of making crying children laugh.


	34. On Tour: Garp's Ship

It was late at night when Coby heard the crashing sound. Without a thought, he ran towards it, flinging open the cabin door to be met with an unexpected sight: ink spilling like blood over scattered pages of sheet music, the desk’s chair overturned with ink droplets flecked over it, and the famous Soul King taking vicious jabs at the pages with a long, thin blade.

“A-are you o-okay?” Coby nervously asked when the musician went deathly still.

It would be a lie to say Coby wasn’t unnerved at the moment. The Soul King had proven to be cheerful and kind when he and the staff of his concert had been brought aboard Garp’s ship for escort across the Calm Belt, telling jokes, signing autographs, and taking song requests from the enlisted men. That daylight image did not match the musician now. In the candle lit cabin, the Soul King’s thin frame loomed, the angles of his bones emphasized by the shadows, and maybe it was a trick of the flickering light, but the skeleton seemed to be wreathed in otherworldly miasma. The desk had obviously been swiped clear, but it was the violence visited upon the scattered pages that really put Coby on edge. He hadn’t even known the man had a sword.

Then, with a small, rattling shake of his head, the Soul King came alive again, his nightmarish countenance melting away.

“Ah! My apologies, Marine-san. I’m quite alright. Just having a little trouble with my inspiration tonight,” he explained, picking up the purple cane body from the floor near the bed and slipping the sword back inside.

Coby absently wondered what a lot of trouble looked like if this was a _little_.

“W-would you like some help cleaning this up?” Coby asked. It was only polite after all, to offer his assistance.

“That would be nice, but I don’t want to keep you from your duties, Marine-san,” the Soul King said, collecting the ruined pages.

“It’s Coby, Soul King-san,” Coby said with a smile, joining the musician on the floor. “And I wouldn’t have offered if I didn’t have the time.”

“Coby-san,” the musician acceded. “And, please, call me Brook.”

As they worked in silence, Coby looked at the wrecked pages. He couldn’t read the musical notation, but the lyrics didn’t seem that bad to him.

“If you don’t mind me asking, Brook-san, what exactly is wrong with this music?”

“Hmm? Oh, it just doesn’t have the right soul for the job,” Brook said offhandedly, using some of the papers to mop up the ink.

“’The job’?” Coby asked.

“A dear, dear friend of mine lost his brother in the war at Marineford and seeing as it will be year since then soon, I wanted to write a song to honor those who fought and died there,” Brook earnestly explained. “Unfortunately, I just can’t seem to find the right soul for the song. I wasn’t there and, due to some circumstances, I was unable to watch the broadcast either, so I’m afraid my inspiration is limited to what was in the paper and my own experiences with large scale battles, which, frankly, don’t compare.”

“Oh,” Coby said, looking down to the sheets in his hands. It was a very nice gesture of the musician to do something for all those lost to that horrible war. He shivered at the memory of all those screaming voices. “I-I was there, Brook-san. I─”

“Coby-san,” Brook said, placing a hand on the young marine’s shoulder. “You don’t have to─”

“But I want to!” Coby cried. “I want you to write a song for what happened that day! For all the men who died, for all the people who lost someone. You’re an amazing musician, Brook-san, and a very kind person. If anyone can write a song to respect what happened, it’s you.”

Brook looked down at Coby, at his teary yet determined eyes. “Very well, then please be my inspiration.”

Coby took a deep breath and began his tale of the War of the Best. It took well over an hour and Coby noticed that the further he got into the story, the more Brook tapped and hummed.

“… and then Shanks-san saved me. I don’t really know what happened after that since I passed out,” Coby said sheepishly, ending with a smile. At the time, it had been absolutely terrifying to face down Akainu like that, but Coby was really glad he did and that Shanks had showed up when he did.

“ _Thank you,_ Coby-san. That was exactly what I needed to give this song the right soul,” Brook said, ruffling Coby’s pink hair.

“You’re welcome! Just make it a good one.”

Brook just hummed in agreement, already getting to work with a new quill pen and fresh paper.

Coby sat and watched the master musician at work for a while before speaking up once more, “So how’s your friend doing now? The one who lost his brother.”

“I haven’t talked to him since my tour began, sadly, but I know he’s moving forward,” Brook replied distractedly. “I’m sure it’s been tough on him, losing his big brother before his very eyes and not having the strength to have stopped it from happening, but the desire to never suffer that kind of pain again is surely what’s driving him forwards now, just as our desire to help him drives us forwards. That is what it means to love whole heartedly, to be nakama.”

_“We are lost souls, a flickering flame_

_Watch me burn out, more than just a name_

_Where is the good? Where is the bad?_

_Please don’t forget what we had_

_I’ll keep you safe inside my heart_

_Until the day I do depart_ _”_

Coby gave Brook a teary smile. “It’s sounds beautiful. I’ll leave you to it.”

Brook didn’t even acknowledge Coby, too caught up in his composition. Coby didn’t mind though and simply headed for the door, only to stop when he heard Brook speak again.

“Ace-san… Luffy-san, my dear captain…” Brook breathed, not noticing that Coby hadn’t completely left the room yet.

The young marine’s eyes widened. _Soul King Brook is a member of Luffy-san’s crew?!_ Coby shook his head. It didn’t matter, he wouldn’t turn the musician in, not under these circumstances.

Still, Coby was glad to hear that Luffy-san hadn’t given up yet, even more so that the dream chasing captain’s crew hadn’t either.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, I know. It's Garp's ship and the guy doesn't even show up. To be fair though, I had a totally different thing planned for this to reflect how Brook could have done actual swordsmanship training, but then Coby took over and demanded (in the nicest way possible) it be rewritten as this. Don't worry, Garp will show up in the Dawn Island chapter of the On Tour sub-collection, if my inspiration/motivation doesn't screw it up. Or I might just do a part 2 for this location. 
> 
> Lyrics are, once more, of my own creation.


	35. Feel This Warmth

“Honestly, Luffy-san, what were you thinking, not bringing a jacket?” Brook fussed, buttoning his captain into his own long coat.

“Shishishi, I w-wanted to explore the i-island! I didn’t think it w-would be s-so c-cold,” Luffy said with a grin, teeth chattering the whole time.

“You came up a mountain covered in snow and didn’t think it would be cold?” Brook questioned dubiously as he pushed the sleeves up so Luffy wouldn’t have to stretch to get his hands out of the cuffs.

“It was s-sunny out, I didn’t think it would be so c-cold,” Luffy said as he pouted at his musician. Obviously, sunshine meant a _warm_ , sunny day.

Brook just chuckled, finding that his captain’s childish logic well matched his now childish appearance with the way he was swimming in the skeleton’s coat.

“Let’s get back to the Sunny, shall we? I’m sure Sanji-san would be delighted to make us some hot chocolate,” Brook suggested.

“Yosh! L-let’s go!” Luffy agreed, eager for the warm and delicious drink as prepared by the best cook in the world.

Brook had to stifle his laughter at seeing his young captain shuffle through the snow in the oversized coat, occasionally getting tripped by the long hem, while they walked back down the mountain.

“Naa, Brook, aren’t you cold? You gave me your coat,” Luffy asked after a while, having finally warmed up from the walking and trapped heat within the coat.

“I’m fine, Luffy-san. I don’t feel the cold,” Brook reassured him.

Luffy looked at his musician for a moment, then lightly frowned.

“Do you feel warmth?” he asked, eyes wide and sincere as he grabbed the skeleton’s hand with his own.

Brook stilled for a moment, amazed once more by that simple yet powerful wisdom of seeing transparent truths that Luffy wielded. He chuckled warmly.

“I suppose I should rephrase that, shouldn’t I, Captain? I can still feel heat and cold, I’m simply not bothered by the extremes of temperature. I know it’s cold out right now, can feel the chill in my bones,” Brook gave a pause that Luffy filled with giggles, “but it’s not uncomfortable or anything. Bones don’t need to be kept warm nor cool, so I don’t need to bundle up for warmth or strip down to stay cool. I mostly wear coats for fashion. Or to keep up appearances, I suppose.”

“Oh,” Luffy said in a way that communicated that he only kind of, maybe understood the explanation.

Brook just chuckled. “Never mind. To answer your question, Luffy-san, I _can_ feel this warmth,” he said, raising their intertwined hands.

Luffy broke out in a beaming smile. “Good!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just really wanted someone else on the crew to end up wearing one of Brook's coats just because they would look so cute swimming in it. Luffy was the easy candidate when he can be a little slow on the uptake, as shown in Drum. And Brook isn't really affected by temperature, as shown on Punk Hazard when he kind of just took a coat to fit in.


	36. Free Willy: Past Redux

“Look, Captain! This bowl has whales on it!” Brook excitedly exclaimed, pulling said bowl down from the high shelf for Yorki to inspect.

“Nice find, Brook!” Yorki said with a smile, appreciating both the design of whales splashing around the outside of the water bowl and the price tag.

The Rumbar Pirates had come to port and their captain and first mate were looking through a store for pets and the accompanying goods since they needed to resupply and replace some of the goods for the ship’s two cats.

“Oh, you gentlemen like whales?” the proprietor, a rather shady looking slime ball of a man, asked.

“Indeed,” Brook confirmed and Yorki nodded along.

“Come this way, then,” the man gestured, leading them into the back of the shop.

There he revealed several tanks holding young whales. That in itself wasn’t necessarily bad, what was bad was that the tanks were only just big enough for the young whales to turn around in.

“1 million beri for a whale,” the proprietor said with a grin.

Brook simply tightened his hand on his cane, something Yorki noticed, even as his own hand subconsciously moved to the saber at his side.

“Sorry, but I’m afraid we don’t have that kind of cash,” Yorki replied, subtly poking Brook to get his first mate to leave with him.

They might have managed to walk out without causing a fuss had one of the young whales not cried out to them. The sound was simply too sad, too reminiscent of Laboon’s own cries for them to ignore.

“On second thought,” Yorki said, whirling around to place his blade to the man’s throat, Brook matching his actions, “we’ll take all your whales. For free.”

The proprietor didn’t dare argue with the wild glint in the two pirates’ eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yep, it had to be done: a "free the whales" Rumbar Pirates version. 
> 
> As for the cats, I remember reading somewhere that ships in the old days would have cats to go mousing for the rats that would slip on board, so considering how big the Rumbar ship(s) were, it's not inconceivable that they'd have a cat or two to prevent rat problems. But mostly I needed a reason to get Rumbar Pirates in a pet shop.


	37. Brook's Lament

There are few who’d deny, at what I do I am the best

For my talents are renowned far and wide

When it comes to songs on upon the seas

I excel without even trying

With the slightest little effort of my musical skill

I have seen tough men break out in tears

With the slice of my bow, and well-placed tremolo

I have swept the emotionless off their feet

Yet month after month, it’s the same routine

And I grow so weary of the sound of screams

And I, Brook, the So-oul King

Have grown so tired of the same old thing

Oh, somewhere deep inside of these bones

An emptiness began to grow

There’s something out there, far from my stage

A longing that I’ve always known

I’m a master of song, and a pirate of sound

And I’ll sing you right into sweet sleep

For a guy in Water 7, I turned it up to eleven

And I’m know throughout the Blues and Grand Line

And since I am dead, I can take off my head

And survive complete decapitation

No animal nor man can scream like I can

With fury of my soul’s music

But who here would ever understand

That the So-oul King with the skeleton grin

Never cared for his crown, if they only understood

He’d give it all up if he only could

Oh, there’s an empty place in my bones

That calls at for something once known

The fame and praise come week after week

Does nothing for these caring tears

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Halloween! So to commemorate the holiday I present a parody (what else do/can you call it?! This isn't really funny!) of Jack's Lament from The Nightmare Before Christmas. I mean, both Jack and Brook are tall, singing skeletons, so it crosses over really well. Time frame would be during the two-year separation, just because it worked best for lyrical adjustment.


	38. Give a Dog a Bone

It had started as an act of compassion.

Brook had been working himself to the bone (Skull Joke, Yohohoho!) to help save the Minks along with every other able-bodied person when one of the Canine Minks had started acting up. The poor thing was delirious from the poison and frightened, so he was biting at anyone who came near, including those trying to treat him. Brook’s first thought had been to use Nemuriuta: Flanc to put the Mink to sleep, but he quickly decided against it. While Brook had improved his ability to target specific people with his music, the fact that most everyone here was tired and stressed left them too open to his music’s hypnotic abilities, especially the power of a lullaby. So to save the others from being bitten, Brook shoved his own forearm into the Canine Mink’s mouth. He wouldn’t bleed, didn’t have flesh to tear nor nerves to set on fire with pain (though it was a little uncomfortable), his bones were strong and healthy, the Mink, not so much, and a few easily healed dents in his arm bones was a small sacrifice to pay to save a life in Brook’s book.

While it had surprised those around him, they couldn’t argue the effectiveness of the move when the Mink settled down, slobbering as he chewed Brook’s forearm.

Later, word of this “generous” act got out to other Canine Minks, who took it as an invitation from their delectably boney savior to participate in a tasty new form of minkship.

As for Brook, he came to the unfortunate realization that if you give a dog a bone, it will come back for more, and bring its friends too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As I stated back in "Some Assembly Required," Brook let the Minks chew on him, so I decided to do something on how that got started because as touchy-feely as the Minks are, with how rough the dogs were with Brook (especially compared to the others), I think they needed some form of "permission" first.


	39. The Start of Something New

“Well look at you, all fancy in your uniform.”

“Yorki-san!” Brook exclaimed, nearly falling out of his chair at a quaint outdoor harbor cafe as he twisted around to see his friend. It had been years since they had seen each other, Brook often being deployed with his convoy and Yorki getting work with a shipping company’s security division, being out at sea just as often.

“Hey, Brook,” Yorki greeted with a smile, giving a lazy salute as he took the seat across from Brook. “You’re looking well,” he said, taking in the changes in his friend, like all the new glittery pins and tassels that now adorned his friend’s uniform. And if he wasn’t mistaken, the jolly tree had gotten even taller since he’d last seen him at 18 years old.

“I could say the same of you,” Brook said, taking a sip of tea and noticing Yorki’s own changes, like the new tattoos on his chin and under his right eye.

Yorki ordered his own drink and food and they caught up with the events in each other’s lives. Laughing at some of the more ridiculous situations they’d gotten into and commiserating over the tougher ones.

“Hey, Brook, you remember that day with the knee-pedal piano at Madam Gertrude’s?” Yorki asked, voice casual, eyes intent.

Brook felt a shiver of anticipation go down his spine. “I believe so. You offered to try to beat up Leon-san for me beforehand and I almost missed the curfew getting back to the dorms since everyone kept me playing so late.”

“Brooook,” Yorki whined, pouting at his friend.

“Oh, did something else happen?” Brook pretended to think for a moment before a big smile broke out on his face. “Oh, yes! You offered to take me as your crew’s musician when you got a ship.”

“Exactly!” Yorki exclaimed, slapping the table. “And guess what I just did before I got here?”

“You didn’t.”

“Of course I did. I’ve got my ship, so you can call me _Captain_ Yorki,” the blonde proudly claimed, pointing his thumb to his chest.

“Yohohoho, and what’s your plan Yorki-san?” Brook asked, amused.

“We’re going to gather a crew and sail anywhere we want, do anything we want, because we’ll be free as musicians of the sea!” Yorki exclaimed. “Just like I promised.”

Brook felt a warmth settle in his chest. It wasn’t like he exactly disliked his captaincy of the battle convoy, but the rules and regulations of military life could be suffocating. Some days it felt like music was the only thing in his life that wasn’t dictated by someone else. He hadn’t lost that childhood longing for freedom.

“I think before that, Captain Yorki, we’ll need to get you looking like a proper captain!” Brook said with a wide smile, chuckling.

Yorki whooped and jumped up in excitement. “Great to have you aboard, Musician Brook! Welcome to the Rumbar Sailing Musicians!”

So they spent a few days getting enough crew members to man the mid-sized ship that Yorki had purchased before setting out to sea.

It was the start of something new and Brook never regretted it for a single moment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So that's the start of the Rumbar Pirates, though they're not pirates yet (that's another story ;3) because I can't honestly see musicians starting as pirates right off the bat, nor someone who had a career fighting pirates suddenly switching to being one (for either of them). And of course this all ties back to the chapter We'll Be Free, Someday.


	40. We're Pirates Now

“This is your fault, you know.”

“My fault?! How was I supposed to know that some poor girl who was fleeing the market place was the offered bride to the lord of the island?! And you can’t tell me that sailing away with her was wrong! She’s fifteen, for crying out loud and that creeper’s in his fifties or something!”

“I don’t disagree with you there, I likely would have done the same. However, that doesn’t change the fact that _this_ ” Brook held up the wanted poster of Yorki that called him a pirate, thus labeling the crew as the same, “is your fault. I _told_ you we shouldn’t have put that bull skull on the sails.”

“We needed an emblem! Besides, it looks cool!”

“And now we’re being called pirates!” Brook yelled back, exasperated. Some days he wondered why he had agreed to be the first mate (or sail under Yorki) when this was what he had to deal with.

“Well, if we just explain ourselves…” Yorki stubbornly pouted.

“And how, pray tell, would we do that?” Brook pointedly asked. “If you walk up to a Marine, you’ll be arrested since _there’s a bounty on your head_! And if one of us tries to explain for you, we’ll likely get arrested for being your subordinate and used as bait to lure you out!”

Yorki looked properly chastised as he hung his head and kicked at the floor. “It could work…” he mumbled.

Brook just sighed and rubbed at his temples. “We both know it wouldn’t, Yorki-san. The system isn’t that kind and forgiving. We’ve dealt with enough pirates to know that.” Brook thought back to his first voyage and that cabin boy he’d spared. Second chances simply weren’t something pirates generally got, whether they deserved it or not.

“Well, look on the bright side!” Yorki said, trying to bounce back from the gloom.

“And what, exactly, would that be?” Brook asked, not really seeing anything good about being hunted across the seas.

“Um, right! We don’t have to follow any rules we don’t want to anymore since we’re technically already criminals!” Yorki exclaimed. “I mean, it’s not like we _have_ to pillage and plunder. We can just ignore laws and stuff that don’t suit us, maybe skip on expensive fees and just take stuff on occasion. Do decidedly less harmful things, you know? We’ll be free traveling adventurer pirates!”

Brook chuckled. “Adventurer pirates?”

“That’s right,” Yorki confirmed with a nod, warming up to the idea. “We’ll going looking for treasure. Maybe pick a fight or two with corrupt governments because we can. Explore places that are off-limits or no one’s ever been to before! And we’ll still be amazing musicians that can make any crying child laugh: the Rumbar Pirates!”

Brook couldn’t help but chuckle at his friend and captain’s enthusiasm. He had to admit, the new picture of pirates that Yorki had painted didn’t sound all that bad. “So we’re pirates now?”

“Yep! Now we’re pirates,” Yorki said with a confident nod.

“You have to tell the crew!” Brook threw over his shoulder as he ducked out of the door of the captain’s cabin, running off down the hallway.

“WHAT?! Brook, wait!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah, they became pirates kind of by accident, but that's also one of the reasons why they're the good kind of pirate: the adventurer pirate. So Yorki kind of ended up childish in this, but given how he teased Brook for being sentimental about their separation from Laboon, I think he has those moments and Brook just has to suffer through it.


	41. On Tour: Drum

“Sorry to bother you with this, Doctrine, with today being your day off and all, but the rest of us just aren’t sure how to treat this one.”

Doctrine, also known as Doctor Kureha, just sighed. “A Devil Fruit User brat, right?”

“Yes, ma’am,” the young doctor replied. “Part of the tour visiting that you volunteered us to give check-ups to.”

Doctor Kureha gave a hum of acknowledgment. She had wanted to give the less experienced of the Isshi-100, as they had become under guidance, some experience with the variety of peoples the Grand Line could offer and the traveling music show had seemed like a good opportunity, having come from Kenzan Island, home of the Longarm Tribe, and picked up people along their route through Paradise. Though all the training for the naturally occurring peoples of the world could hardly cover what a Devil Fruit could do the body. Speaking of which… “Have Mirajane schedule a seminar on Devil Fruit User needs and being adaptable. And this one’s a Paramecia class, right? What’s the fruit?”

“Ah, yes, a paramecia: the Yomi Yomi no Mi.”

_How nostalgic. I wonder…._

“A Reviving Human? Where’s the trouble with that?”

“Well, just see for yourself…” the young doctor trailed off, gesturing into the exam room he’d led Doctor Kureha to.

“Well, you certainly don’t see _that_ every day,” she mumbled, seeing the patient sitting on the exam table. A living skeleton, what a medicinal mystery the Devil Fruits had created. Though certainly not as impossible to diagnose or care for as the brats seemed to think.

_And wonder of wonders, it really is him. There’s no mistaking that height and afro, even after fifty years and a lack of flesh._

“I’ve got this one handled, you get back to the others,” Kureha instructed the younger doctor, waving him away. She waited until the brat was gone before shutting the door and speaking to her patient. “It’s been a while, Music Brat.”

“Indeed, Doctor Kureha. A little over fifty years by my count since we visited your island,” Brook easily returned. “You look as young as ever.”

“Still trying to be a gentleman, I see. Though I’m afraid I can’t say the same for you. Now clothes off and let’s get a look at those bones,” she instructed him.

Brook just laughed as he pulled off his shirt and neatly folded it. “Considering I haven’t changed much these past few decades, I would beg to differ. And it seems you’ve been quite busy for a woman who said she wouldn’t take any apprentices in medicine.”

Kureha snorted as she moved in close to start tapping at the exposed bones. “These brats aren’t my apprentices. I’m just the doctor in charge here.”

“Who said I was talking about the doctors here?” Brook said, a sly smile in his voice.

Kureha stilled for a moment before breaking into a wide grin. “So you met my idiot son out there. Was he doing well?”

“Yohohoho, quite well! We are lucky to have him as our ship’s doctor,” Brook sincerely stated.

“Oh? That Straw Hat Brat got to you too, huh? You’re in for quite the adventure following a kid like him,” Kureha said, remembering the young captain her son had set sail with and the King the Straw Hat Brat reminded her of. “Now lay down on the table here. Your bones’ alignment is slightly off, so I’m going to fix that.”

“I’m well aware of the troubles of such captains,” Brook informed her as he followed her instructions. “But he’s someone _worth_ following. Besides, I’m still young, right?” he said, a teasing lilt to his voice.

“Hihihi! I suppose you are,” Kureha acknowledged, knowing that saying otherwise was to acknowledge her own _longer_ life. “So do tell how my idiot son is doing.”

And so Brook told her all of his short adventure with the Straw Hats before their separation and bits and pieces of what he remembered from their Log as she straightened up and realigned his bones.

Kureha just smiled the whole time, glad to hear about her son’s adventures (and that for once a patient wasn’t resisting her treatment, the ungrateful brats).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay, as hinted at in "Taller and Taller," I got the Drum version of On Tour done! A little interaction between the two oldest humans still kicking (like they're still young and in their prime, crazy old coots) in One Piece.
> 
> So we have no clue what route or islands the Rumbar Pirates visited in their journey through the Grand Line, but it's possible they stopped by Drum while still traveling a different route than the one the Straw Hats took, seeing as Drum wasn't necessarily part of the Straw Hat's Log Pose route since they were navigating off an Eternal Pose to Alabasta at the time and just kind of happened to run into Drum. So with the lovely blank canvas of Brook's past, I've had him visit Drum and get along with Kureha so that they could have this nice chat.
> 
> ...and now I've set myself up to write a chapter about Brook's first visit, ehehe ( -_-") It'll happen, maybe...


	42. A Promise to be Kept

Most people didn't realize that not all of the users of the Yomi Yomi no Mi came back to life.

Then again, people didn't generally know what it was like to die or what all happened after their heart stopped beating and they breathed their last.

But being a user of that particular fruit, Brook knew. He knew that using that power to forgo the next world and return to this one was one of the hardest decisions of his lives.

* * *

When he died, like any other soul, Brook's moved on to the next world, only to be stopped at the gates.

_There is so much life still left in you. Will you continue forward or head back?_

Brook saw his crew on the other side. The more he looked at the other shore, the more lost and familiar faces he saw, each one a reason to go forward.

He took a step forward, only for a voice to call out, "He's going back."

Brook started in surprise at the voice of his own first mate telling him to go away. Did he hate him that much for what happened to the crew?

"He's got a promise to keep, for all of us," his first mate continued, giving his captain a knowing look. "We promised we'd return no matter what, right, Captain?"

"We died trying already. What more can I do on my own?" Brook brokenly asked. He didn't want to go back to the poison burning in his veins, the ship devoid of anyone but himself. He'd already sat through all of them dying before finally succumbing himself and did not look forward to dealing with an empty ship of corpses until he found land again, or a friendly ship.

"It's not about whether you succeed or not, Captain, though I would suggest succeeding. Anyway, it's about doing all you can to keep that promise. There are no apologies in death."

Brook felt tears well in his eyes. It would be hard to leave them and go be alone for who knows how long, but he was right, there was a promise to be kept and Brook was the only one who _could_ keep it.

"I'll miss you all terribly!"

"We won't!" yelled one of his crew members, all of them having followed the conversation since their first mate called out. "We'll finally get to sleep in without worrying about you playing _Black Handkerchief of Happiness_!" A cheer went up from the crew.

"You're all jerks!" Brook called back, tears dripping down his face. "I'll keep our promise, just you wait and see!"

"Get outta here already! And we better not see you on this side for a long while yet!"

Brook just nodded, too choked up to speak.

And then he went back, only to find time had slipped by, or maybe he got slightly lost heading back to the world of the living, because the ship, much less his body, were nowhere to be found. So he searched and searched, tempted to give up and just move on anyways, but there was still a promise to be kept. Even once he regained his body, there was the temptation to try to end it (the sea was good at ending Devil Fruit Users, right?), but there was still a promise to be kept.

Then the temptation ended in a whirlwind of a disastrously miraculous day. He had a new promise of service to the man who would be king (who had his own promise with Laboon) and for once he felt like there was no way his promise, or rather promises, wouldn't be kept.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It has always been a bit odd, I think, that Brook had to go searching for his body after reviving. The only reasonable way to explain that is that the Yomi Yomi no Mi doesn't automatically put the soul back in the body or give the soul a sense for where the physical anchor (if that even applies) is and it doesn't allow for immediate resuscitation, giving the ship enough time to float away from where Brook died and get lost in the mist. 
> 
> So what is happening with the soul in this time lapse? I decided to go the route that the soul makes it to the edges of the afterlife where it is given the option to go back or continue forward to the afterlife. Brook's only comments about what it's actually like to die was his speech to Zeo about wasting lives, where he comments that the only thing left behind is the bones, which could imply that something else moves on and Brook has seen/experienced this.


	43. Storage Space

Really, Brook had to hand it to Pedro, he made a wonderful decoy. The Jaguar Mink had bought Brook the full opportunity to collect rubbings of Big Mom’s Poneglyphs, and now all that was left was to tuck them away and do his best to escape the treasure room.

However, as Brook was about to slide the rolled-up rubbings into the case, he noticed the scratches on it and paused. There was still more fighting to be done in this mission, the pounding on the door earlier made that abundantly clear, and even the reduced number of enemies he’d fought and the easy victory over the Chess Peacekeepers had resulted in damages. What awaited him outside the treasury doors would be decidedly fiercer, if Brook had to guess, which meant that the enemy might very well cut the tube in half, along with its contents.

“That just won’t do,” Brook mumbled to himself, looking at the rubbings.

He considered his options. He could fold the rubbings and tuck them in a pocket… no, that was hardly any safer than the tube, maybe even less so. Trying to tuck them into his boots would likely be similar in risk, maybe more so as it might interfere with his movements, giving the enemy more chances to bring him down.

_Somewhere safe, somewhere I know they won’t get harmed…_

And then it came to him: the storage space in his skull!

It was perfect. Contrary to appearance, when Brook stored things in his skull, that wasn’t _exactly_ where they were stored. Rather, opening up his skull and placing items “inside” created a natural focus for his soul to swallow items without processing them (as happened when food and the like was placed into his mouth) to be regurgitated on command later, undamaged.

This was something Brook had discovered after his first fight with Ryuuma, when the zombie had driven his blade through Brook’s eye socket into the back of his skull. After Brook had finished dragging himself off of Thriller Bark, it had occurred to him that the finishing blow of the duel may have very well destroyed his most precious possession. However, a quick dip of his hand into his skull and the Tone Dial came out, not so much as a scratch or dent on it. Which was quite strange when Brook knew that with as deep into his skull as he had to reach, it should have been hit.

This little mystery led to a week (maybe, time was so hard to keep track of) of experimenting with storing items in his skull. The results were interesting. As long as it could fit through the opening his skull created, the rest of the dimensions of the item in question didn’t matter, meaning that he could (and did) shove a broom into his skull and it would somehow not stick out of the bottom of his jaw and go down into his rib cage. There also didn’t seem to be a limit to how many items could be stored in his skull, regardless of how there shouldn’t be room to fit so many odds and ends in there. Though Brook did notice that for whatever reason, the more items that he placed into his skull, the more sluggish he felt. Which contrasted with the fact that he didn’t feel the weight of the items in his skull, more of just a sense that they were there. Pure curiosity and boredom had led to a repeat of the experiment using his ribcage for storage when he realized that he could possibly hide his violin within the space once occupied by his internal organs under his jacket. The results were much the same as with his skull, so Brook began to keep his violin stored there (and later his guitar).

But back to the matter at hand, Brook needed a safe place to store the rubbings and his skull storage space would be the safest place to spirit them away (Skull Joke! Or would that be Soul Joke?).

Just after Brook finished placing the now folded rubbings in his skull (sure, rolled-up they would fit, but such long objects were terribly awkward to put in and pull out), Big Mom made her appearance. He was under no delusions that he could win in a straight up fight against the Yonkou, particularly if she were to take the fight seriously. Considering that Big Mom burst into the treasury in a rage over the very idea that he was trying to steal anything, Brook thought it safer to mislead the Yonkou on the current state of completion of his mission, telling her that he had yet to obtain the rubbings.

With any luck, he might just manage to slip out past her and make a run for it.

* * *

 _Well this is embarrassing_.

It was one thing to lose to an obviously superior fighter and another thing entirely to be stripped down to your underwear and treated like a doll. The only silver lining Brook could find at this moment was that he was no deader than usual and he had made the right decision to store not only the Poneglyph rubbings, but also the drawing materials used to make them, in his skull, seeing as the Chess Peacekeepers (that Big Mom had to _order_ to get into the same room as him, he noted with a bit of pride) had been quite thorough in their search through his possessions.

Really, it was unfortunate that there was nothing he could do at the moment to complete his mission except wait for the opportunity to escape to present itself. But he had patience, and the Poneglyph rubbings were safe in his soul’s storage space.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is partially inspired (or rather I was put in the mood to write it) by the expansion of Brook's confrontation with Big Mom in episode 816 in that Brook straight up lies about not having a copy of the Poneglyphs already, so a bit of justification for that. 
> 
> Though obviously the bigger focus is my head canon for Brook's ability to store things in his skull, or rather his soul. 
> 
> I reached this conclusion of his soul swallowing and then spitting back up the items because you really should be able to see anything he puts in there through his eye sockets or looking up from beneath his jaw bone, yet you never do, and (as stated in story) Brook gets his head rattled around and cracked/broken, yet his Tone Dial, and latter the rubbings, don't take any damage. 
> 
> So based on the fact that Brook can eat and process food by making it disappear into his mouth, I figured a similar space is likely used to simply store items in his skull, then expanded it to his ribcage area since that's around where he pulled his guitar out to face the Chess Peacekeepers and he does randomly pull out his violin or guitar without any obvious storage space fairly regularly. 
> 
> Okay, long explanation is over.


	44. 約束の岬  The Promised Cape

Those eyes of yours shine bright like the Shinshuu night sky

Can you see them, the beautiful fireworks?

Laboon…

There is a dream I cannot forget

That time floating in your eyes

There is a song I want to bring to you

Just remembering those long bygone days

The Grand Line is so very rough

Taking all the strength that we had

My single reason left to live

I swore on that starry sky

As a man who said he would definitely return again

Because of that promise!!!

I long to see you and your smile again

Yohohohoho la-la-la-la

La-la-la la-la-la-Laboon

Not even death can stop my desire to see you

Yohohohoho la-la-la-la

La-la-la la-la-la-Laboon

Someday we’ll meet again at the Promised Cape

The night I heard that you were well

Sent all my worries flying away

Your memory remains deep in my heart

I’ve come to love friends more while we’re apart

I burn with longing to return to you

Never forgetting that final summer

That nostalgic wind of that day

When white birches shook in moonlight

I continue forward upon the sea

Until that day we meet again!!!

With you I would rendezvous, anytime and anywhere for you

Yohohohoho la-la-la-la

La-la-la la-la-la-Laboon

You wait at Reverse Mountain

Yohohohoho la-la-la-la

La-la-la la-la-la-Laboon

The lake of fireworks leads us forward

I’m so glad!!! So glad to still be alive!!!

Truly!!! So very glad to be alive!!!

Today is the day!!! I’m on my way to you!!!

Yohohohoho la-la-la-la

La-la-la la-la-la-Laboon

Not even death can stop my desire to see you

Yohohohoho la-la-la-la

La-la-la la-la-la-Laboon

Someday we’ll meet again at the Promised Cape

I went on a lovely trip to Zenkouji Temple!

Please wait a little longer, Laboon

I still haven’t given up on it, I’m going to see you soon!!!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is different from all the other chapters I've done before now as it's not 100% my own content because this is my personally made fan translation of the "One Piece 二ッポン縦断！47クルーズCD" (One Piece Nippon Juudan! 47 Cruise CD) collection's 約束の岬 (Yakusoku no Misaki, The Promised Cape). 
> 
> I'm not completely satisfied with my adjusted translation (as opposed to doing a literal translation, I bothered to attempt to make it work with the beat), but I offer it still for your pleasure. 
> 
> As a side note, 47 Cruise CD is a collection of songs based off of the singing character and a prefecture of Japan and this one's prefecture is Nagano. If you wish to hear the original, it is posted on youtube, though I translated it off of the lyrics page of my own copy of the CD that I bought (having actual Japanese writing is sooo much easier than trying by ear or someone else's romanji only write-up). 
> 
> Anyways, I've also got Bone Holiday (also from 47 Cruise CD) and スリラーナイト・スリラーバーク(Thriller Night, Thriller Bark from the new "One Piece Island Song Collection") which will probably end up in here later.


	45. The Pirate Days of Christmas

On the first day of Christmas a Pirate gave to me

The pirate king’s old straw hat

On the second day of Christmas a Pirate gave to me

Two lives to live

And the pirate king’s old straw hat

On the third day of Christmas a Pirate gave to me

Three fine katana

Two lives to live

And the pirate king’s old straw hat

On the fourth day of Christmas a Pirate gave to me

Four Devil Fruit Users

Three fine katana

Two lives to live

And the pirate king’s old straw hat

On the fifth day of Christmas a Pirate gave to me

Five hunks of meat

Four Devil Fruit Users

Three fine katana

Two lives to live

And the pirate king’s old straw hat

On the sixth day of Christmas a Pirate gave to me

Six mellorines

Five hunks of meat

Four Devil Fruit Users

Three fine katana

Two lives to live

And the pirate king’s old straw hat

On the seventh day of Christmas a Pirate gave to me

Seven Zoan transformations

Six mellorines

Five hunks of meat

Four Devil Fruit Users

Three fine katana

Two lives to live

And the pirate king’s old straw hat

On the eighth day of Christmas a Pirate gave to me

Eight poneglyphs

Seven Zoan transformations

Six mellorines

Five hunks of meat

Four Devil Fruit Users

Three fine katana

Two lives to live

And the pirate king’s old straw hat

On the ninth day of Christmas a Pirate gave to me

Nine good nakama

Eight poneglyphs

Seven Zoan transformations

Six mellorines

Five hunks of meat

Four Devil Fruit Users

Three fine katana

Two lives to live

And the pirate king’s old straw hat

On the tenth day of Christmas a Pirate gave to me

Ten juicy mikan

Nine good nakama

Eight poneglyphs

Seven Zoan transformations

Six mellorines

Five hunks of meat

Four Devil Fruit Users

Three fine katana

Two lives to live

And the pirate king’s old straw hat

On the eleventh day of Christmas a Pirate gave to me

Eleven bottles of cola

Ten juicy mikan

Nine good nakama

Eight poneglyphs

Seven Zoan transformations

Six mellorines

Five hunks of meat

Four Devil Fruit Users

Three fine katana

Two lives to live

And the pirate king’s old straw hat

On the twelfth day of Christmas a Pirate gave to me

Twelve amazing stories

Eleven bottles of cola

Ten juicy mikan

Nine good nakama

Eight poneglyphs

Seven Zoan transformations

Six mellorines

Five hunks of meat

Four Devil Fruit Users

Three fine katana

Two lives to live

And the pirate king’s old straw hat

* * *

**Chopper the Blue-Nosed Reindeer**

You know Luffy and Zoro,

Nami and Usopp,

Sanji and Robin,

Franky and Brook.

But do you recall, the cutest Straw Hat of all?

Chopper the blue-nosed reindeer

Ate the Hito-Hito no Mi

And if you ever meet him, you might see him transform

All of the normal people thought he was some monster

They never let poor Chopper be their friend you see

Then after one big battle, Luffy came to say

"Chopper with your doctor skills, won't you become my nakama?"

Then how the crew loved him, as they shouted out with glee

"Chopper the blue-nosed reindeer, welcome to our crazy family!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Merry Christmas! This has probably been done plenty before, but The 12 Days of Christmas is an easy one to change and since they technically start at Christmas, it fits. So another Straw Hat Pirates version, yay! And the small bonus of Chopper the Blue-Nosed Reindeer. It's not very Brook, I suppose, but it is Christmas music and Brook's the musician, so I say it fits


	46. Bone Holiday

Yohohoho... Everyday I'm way too busy, so it feels like I'm working myself to death

Ah! But I'm already dead though

Everyone! Give your bones a break, shall we have a boney vacation?

I've been hanging around ever since I got here

Drawing up a map of Shizuoka Prefecture

Having a cup of tea is oh so fancy

Are you enjoying these juicy mikan?

Meitou Onsen, party it up in the spa

Have a bit of wasabi, imperfect but great

Yohohoho, young lady, might you show me your panties?

Bone Holiday! Give your bones a break!

Live Tour is a little Run Away

Bone Holiday! Vacation for your bones!

No bone about it, we're taking it easy

Travel's better together, give the world a break

Nihon Daira, visit for breakfast

I can feel it in my bones, all our love and dreams

Climbing up Mt. Fuji, picnic at the top

Shizuoka oden, brought it up for lunch

Gold medal for gold-eyed snapper

And this tasty grilled eel is like no other eel

Toro Ruins where we can set together

Delicious melon to melon melon

Let's stuff our cheeks with this yummy food

Ah! But I don't have cheeks!

Bone Holiday! Sing along with me!

Turn up the volume of the brass fanfare

Bone Holiday! Reading Shank's Mare!

Piano guitar is also fun to play

When you want to get away What you gonna say

Miho no Matsubara for an evening view

BONE and afro raise your spirits up

Yo! Ho! Give your bones a break!

NaNaNa... Bones on vacation!

Bone Holiday! Give your bones a break!

Nothing but bones and yet I'm still alive

Bone Holiday! Vacation for your bones!

No bones about it, we're taking it easy

Travel's better together, give the world a break

Yakisoba souvenir, up upon the sea

I can feel it in my bones, all our love and dreams

Bone Holiday! Give your bones a break!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here's my second song translation for Bone Holiday from the 47 Cruise CD. It was certainly more challenging than Yakusoku no Misaki as this one does reflect more the prefecture it was set in. To be honest, it (embarrassingly) took me a while to realize that some of the lyrics were referencing tourist spots and one book (Shank's Mare in translation circles according to the internet or 膝栗毛 [Hizakurige] as the shortened title in Japanese and the lyric went). That and I had to come up with different translations of 骨休め (Hone Yasume) so that the song wasn't a bunch of repeats of the phrase "bone holiday," especially since it was already an English phrase as a lyric in the song. The good news on that front is that 休め (Yasume) covers just about any kind of not-doing-work situation, so it allows for that kind of flexibility.


	47. スリラーナイト・スリラーバーク Thriller Night Thriller Bark

Good evening, I welcome you to Thriller Bark

Yohohohoho

Huh? What was that, I think I something just move behind me

Ghosts and Ghouls, Ghosts and Ghouls, Invisible Spirits

Did you hear that roar splitting the dark night?

Fearsome Beasts, Fearsome Beasts, Monsters of the Dark Night

With my shadow stolen away no mirror will reflect me

Who is out there? Where am I now? What was that? Hidden in this fog

Dyed with all consuming fear this island

Makes for a hair raising Thriller Night

A look of shock upon my face, pale with fear

But I don't have a face

Yohoho Yohoho no ho

Huh? Be very careful as you wander through the graveyard

Dead bodies, dead bodies, Zombie creatures

Nothing fancy around at all, just a giant Monster...

Big Demon, Big Demon, Definitely a Big Demon

I will take back my shadow for the promise I long to fulfill

As I hum a song, strolling along

Cut them all down right here and now

Stained by evil is this Island

Let's clean away the dark of Thriller Bark

My heart pounds away in my chest, oh so fast

But I don't have a heart

Yohoho Yohoho no ho

No matter the time I feel it in my bones

Aaaah~ I am just bones

Dyed with all consuming fear this Island

Makes for a hair raising Thriller Night

Let's review the weaknesses of zombies

Plain old salt, Plain old salt, Regular plain old salt

Stained by evil is this Island

Let's clean away the dark of Thriller Bark

My heart pounds away in my chest, oh so fast

but I don't have a heart

Yohoho Yohoho no ho

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And this is the last of my song translations (until if/when I buy another, come on, momma needs more TD/CDs) スリラーナイト・スリラーバーク (Thriller Night Thriller Bark) from the Island Song Collection, which to my understanding is like 47 Cruise, except the locations are One Piece Islands and such instead of real world Japan. It's also a pretty new song collection and it doesn't look like anyone's put it on youtube, which is a shame because it's goooood. 
> 
> As for a fun translation note, for what I made to be "Let's clean away the dark of Thriller Bark" was written with the kanji for "purify" but given furigana to be pronounced (and thus sung) as "to clean" so some middle ground English was what I translated it into.


	48. Playing (with) the Captain

"You know, if you keep laying there, someone's going to step on you," Brook said, looking down at Luffy flopped down in the middle of the grassy deck of the Sunny.

"Don't care. It won't hurt anyways," Luffy dismissed, huffing from under the shade of his hat.

Brook tilted his head in consideration. While it was true that the young captain would suffer no ill-effects of being stepped on, it was a bit out of character for him to be so dismissive of it all. Though it may have something to do with the dressing down he'd just received from a rather stressed doctor and being ordered to stay on board while docked to let his injuries from the latest fight heal. Luffy, as always, trusted his doctor's medical advice, but was not happy about being left behind while everyone except him and Brook (who had volunteered to look after their captain) had an "adventure."

What to do, what to do? Brook didn't care to see his captain so despondent, and yet it was the perfect opportunity to try something that had been floating around in his brain (or rather his skull, seeing as he didn't have a brain, Yohohoho) for a while now. With any luck, it would cheer Luffy up.

Decided, Brook walked over to his captain's side, caught Luffy's fingers between his own boney ones, placed a foot on the palm of Luffy's hand, and stretched the fingers up. A quick twist of his fingers had the rubber man's own twining around his bones like strings on a tuning peg. Satisfied that he had enough difference in tension between Luffy's fingers, Brook began strumming, producing a twangy thrumming sound.

Luffy had been peeking out from under the brim of his hat when Brook began messing about with his hand, but he didn't shift enough to get a clear view until Brook started making music with his fingers. It only got more interesting the longer Brook played. It had started with just four notes as made by the differing tension of his fingers and then Brook had started moving his own hand up and down, Luffy's fingers stretching with it and changing the pitch of their thrumming notes.

Soon enough Brook had Luffy sitting up (his hand still trapped against the deck, not that he minded) and smiling. Seeing his captain cheered up, Brook felt his own smile as he continued playing (with) the captain.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one was inspired by the sudden idea that Luffy's rubber abilities mean that you could use his limbs (or as in this case, fingers) to make music, particularly like the childhood homemade guitar of rubber bands and a shoe box. I don't know if any of you have done that, but I can remember doing that, and there's still just plucking at a rubber band stretched between your fingers too.
> 
> On a different note, I've been a busy little translator. There's a gag manga spin-off of One Piece called One Piece Party which is really funny, but only the first three chapters were ever posted online translated (to my knowledge). So since I bought the 3 volumes of it and know enoug Japanese (grammar) to get by, I've started translating it and posting it to my deviantart.


	49. The World Through His Eyes

Vision has always been an off sense for Brook.

When Brook was alive, his vision was impaired.

For as long as he could remember, he had to wear shades because his pupils would not adjust for the level of light present, stuck ever open and ready to see through the dark. Sunshine was painfully bright, yet Brook couldn’t bear to stay cooped up on a sunny day because he loved the warmth and general happiness such days brought about. Even simple indoor lighting tended to be a bit much for his poor eyes. So what Brook loved most was a clear starlit night with a crescent moon, because the light wasn’t too bright and it was enchantingly beautiful. Those nights were the rare times that he could take off his shades without pain or feeling like some creature lurking in the dark.

Of course, bullies were quick to capitalize on the glaring weakness of his protective shades, and even without such intentional attacks, shades were prone to break if one was clumsy enough (he’d rather not count the pairs of sunglasses lost in his teenage years between clumsiness and bullies). But where Brook’s eyes failed him, his ears did not. That he was good enough at listening to navigate and operate blindly was just another reason he was thankful for his pitch perfect hearing, besides the enjoyment and talent for music it granted him. Though he supposed there was the slight drawback that when his father had pushed him for the military academy, his ability to function while mostly blinded by light kept him from being disqualified as being too crippled for attaining active service.

Among the Rumbar Pirates, the only problem Brook’s eyesight presented was that his constant wearing of his shades made crew members, especially the new ones, terribly curious about what his eyes looked like, leading to clandestine operations to remove his shades, few of which were successful. It didn’t help that Yorki did nothing to discourage them and could, on occasion, be caught helping the rookies with their plans. When the attempts started to get out of hand, it was one of the few times Brook took full enjoyment in the authority of being the first mate and being able to hand out punishments to unruly crew members.

When people found out that what they considered normal amounts of light made him blind as a bat, they would sometimes ask how Brook dealt with having that sort of disability. Sometimes Brook wanted to laugh at that question because that was like asking how one dealt with being male or female. He’d been blinded by light since before he could remember, so he didn’t know any other way to live. Sure, one might curse the way they were (he couldn’t say “born” as he wasn’t sure if that was his own situation as he had never seen a point in asking his parents seeing as it wouldn’t really change anything), but Brook was not one of those people. Brook was himself and there wasn’t anything he could do to change that particular feature, so there was no use crying over it.

When Brook came back to life, his vision was changed.

For one thing, his impairment in life was gone. A boon, he supposed, of not seeing with physical eyes that were defective. Though it took him awhile to figure that out as the Florian Triangle’s thick fog made his shades unnecessary in the first place and with his shades broken he hadn’t been keen on lighting a lamp or candle with the risk of painful brightness. Eventually though, the desire for a warm light in the dreary dead of that sea outweighed the risk of pain and, after searching the ship for an undamaged one, he lit a lamp. To his surprise, he could look directly at the flame without being blinded. He could hardly believe his eyes, and then had a slight panic attack about the fact that he didn’t have eyes anymore as he was still adjusting to the fact that he was now a _living skeleton_. Existential crisis aside ( _Give it some time, you’ll get used to it_ , yet he wasn’t sure if he wanted to get used to it), the light was a comfort that made him grateful for the change in vision created by his rebirth.

Other changes to his vision went unnoticed until the Straw Hat Pirates took Brook away from the enshrouding fog of the Florian Triangle. He hadn’t really thought about it when he came back to life, but Brook didn’t blink anymore, he didn’t even have eyelids to blink with. It was, of course, possible to cut his vision out as if he’d closed his eyes, but the subconscious act of blinking had been lost to him and Brook hadn’t realized this until he was surrounded by people who did blink, especially when moving from the dark into the light.

And that was another odd point to Brook’s eyeless vision, he did not need time to adjust to the level of lighting. Yes, it was still harder to see in the extremes of light and dark, but a sudden change in lighting for Brook was more like a sudden change in the color of his surroundings, colors dulling or brightening depending on which way the light levels were going. It was an amusing irony, when Brook thought about it. In life, his eyes would never adjust to the light and in death, his eyes (not that he actually had any, Yohohoho) always adjusted perfectly to the light.

Though the strangest change to Brook’s vision by far was what happened when he left his bones or called upon higher levels of power from his soul. In these times he could see the aura of people’s souls. And yes, it was the aura, not their actual souls, after all, he was still seeing things on the physical plane, so the physical body got in the way of seeing the actual soul. That was fine though, as he very much enjoyed watching people’s auras flare and undulate around them, particularly the crew’s. To be able to see the bond of the crew, the way wisps of that energy stayed intertwined between each other and with his own, it helped banish even the slightest thought of loneliness because he could see the love and care right there. To see how his songs could take a dull glow and brighten it up to pure joy, there could hardly be anything more satisfying as a musician than to be able to clearly how his music moved others. Of course, he also used this vision against enemies, watching how their soul’s aura moved and then adjusting his music to pressure them in just the right way for his desired effect. It was something he had done naturally before, though maybe using more reinforcement from his own soul to pressure them then, but now he could play so subtly that any illusion was possible given enough time.

Though there were times when Brook feared this aspect of his vision. After all, no one enjoys watching the life of someone you care for dim and flicker. The soul’s aura, in part, also represented the life force of the owner, so when extremely injured, he could see the life of his crew fading and that knowledge, to know almost as well as the doctor how close to death they were, scared him. And yet he couldn’t bring himself to look away. His powers now allowed him to use his own soul to manipulate others’ souls, so if there was a chance that he could, he wanted to be ready to coax those precious souls into staying long enough for someone to fix the body. A wish he hoped to never need to act upon, but one he silently remained ready for. His Fruit was about cheating death, there was no reason he shouldn’t be able to help others avoid its grasp.

So the world through his eyes was different. Probably because he didn’t have eyes anymore, Yohohoho.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We have yet to see what Brook's eyes looked like while he was alive because he's always wearing shades, even as a child. The closest you can get is some concept art of Brook when he was alive, but neither of the shots with eyes shown match the final (not to mention that those two have different eye styles anyways). So this is a kind of why on that, partially inspired by Saravi Boo's "Song of Flesh" over on FanFiction, or rather I took their idea of eyes that won't adjust to light to explain the shades from it. And then expanded into seeing with his soul because that's got to be a bit different. So musings and head-canons.


	50. Fledgling Souls

It was a calm night, so Brook was sitting down in the Soldier Docking System hub, humming a soft melody and lazily plucking out a tune on his guitar.

It was something he’d started doing after they made it past Fishman Island and if the crew thought it strange, they didn’t say anything, just gave him peace and quiet to do so. Brook had on occasion entertained the idea of telling them what he was doing, but he thought the eventual surprise would be more rewarding. Besides, there wasn’t anything to show for mortal eyes at this point anyways (though he suspected Luffy might pick up on his efforts, possibly Franky or Usopp as well).

As for what he was doing, well, music is food for the soul and there were six fledgling souls down here who could benefit from some extra, special love and care (not to say that they weren’t well cared for anyway).

The idea to offer up a bit of his own extra spiritual energies to aid the creation of Klabautermann had only really occurred to him after Fishman Island, where he had noticed the wisps of soul attached to the Franky Shogun (he hadn’t had much time to look at the component vehicles) and their dear Lion-chan as they fought in Gyoncorde Plaza. So when he had gotten the chance, Brook had gone down to the central area of the Docking System, opened all the inner bay doors, and begun to play, filling his song with soul to tease the wisps of soul out into view.

Now he played for them regularly, slowly building up their strength.

They were darling little children, from the proud and strong Lion-chan to the soft-spoken and kind Lamb-chan. Shark-chan was adventurous and Horse-chan was lively and quick. Rhino-chan was a show-off and Dino-chan was steady and sure (the two of them got along marvelously, though that was hardly a surprise when they combined to make the Shogun).

Lion-chan and Lamb-chan could convey enough to present complex concepts, though not quite at the words stage (Brook knew it was but a matter of time since Sheep-chan had managed it without any special Devil Fruit help). That those two were ahead of the others in development Brook attributed to their connections to the Straw Hats’ first ship, the crew automatically loving and fostering the souls of those ships in memory of the first. That, and they were the ones who saw the most use by the crew. Rhino-chan and Dino-chan were next, despite being the youngest creations, seeing as they received so much adoration for becoming the Franky Shogun together. Then came Shark-chan, being used often enough to sneakily explore ahead and occasionally to look for good fishing spots. And little Horse-chan was the weakest, though it could hardly be helped when Nami-san was the only one who could maneuver the poor dear and she just didn’t get to take Horse-chan out all that often.

Still, Brook loved them all, just like the rest of the crew, and he looked forward to the day that all the fledgling souls of the Klabautermann were grown enough to sing along with the songs he played for them. Until then, he’d watch the happily waving wisps of soul and know that these little ones were coming along just fine.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think I killed myself a bit with the cuteness of this one, haha. So this one builds off the aura/soul wisps that Brook can see from last chapter, "The World Through His Eyes," and the fact that Klabautermann are the souls of ships. 
> 
> As I was working on this, I realized that Brook almost categorically refuses to call any of the Straw Hat ships by their ship name, instead giving them nicknames, so I spread that to the other three that Brook hasn't had to refer to yet. As for Going Merry being 'Sheep-chan,' if the Mini-Merry is a lamb, then it only makes sense for the full-sized ship to be a sheep (more importantly, it keeps the two from getting mixed up).


	51. Splish Splash, We Were Takin' a Bath

“You’re all taking a bath. No arguing!” Nami announced to the men of the crew.

They’d defeated Moria and had their celebration feast, now it was time for the dirty animals to get clean, or rather fully clean instead of the minimal clean for getting their wounds treated.

“Whoo! Bath Party!” Luffy cheered, one of the few times he was happy to go take a bath. Chopper and Usopp joined his cheer and Nami rolled her eyes (whatever works, right?).

Brook just chuckled. His new captain and crew certainly knew how to have fun. It certainly would be nice to get clean though. Brook couldn’t quite remember when he’d last had a bath. It hadn’t particularly mattered when there was no else to be bothered by his scent. In fact, Brook wasn’t sure he had much of a scent anymore, what with a lack of sweat glands and skin for scents to rub into. His clothes probably smelled more than himself. Speaking of which…

“Not to argue with your order to take a bath or anything, but I’m afraid I don’t have a change of clean clothes,” Brook hedged. It kind of ruined the feeling of getting clean in the bath to put on dirty clothes afterwards.

“I know. That’s why I grabbed Zoro’s coat from Alabasta and a pair of his pants.”

“Oi!” Zoro started to object only to be silenced with a glare from Nami that promised a raised debt.

“They’re not going be a perfect fit, but they’re the longest we’ve got,” Nami explained. She excluded the provision that they were the longest _men’s_ clothes they had because while Robin was taller than Zoro, with the musician’s tendency to ask after panties, it was better to just not bring that up. And Franky never wore pants, nor were his shirts quite long enough to properly fit the musician.

“Ah, thank you,” Brook said with a tilt of his head to the navigator. “If you don’t mind, Zoro-san?”

“It’s fine,” Zoro replied. It wasn’t lending the older swordsman clothes that he had been objecting to, rather it was the witch rooting around in his locker without even asking.

That settled, all the men headed for the bath.

Inside the bathroom, things quickly dissolved into a water fight, the Devil Fruit Users vs the Non-Users. The Devil Fruit team got to use the shower heads (they couldn’t really participate if they were actually in the bathtub where their strength would be sapped by the water) and the Nons splashed water from the tub (Franky’s dinner plate sized hands could be used to make quite the squirt gun). Both sides used buckets for extra scooping and flinging power.

It was fun, it was lively, it was senseless. Brook loved every second of it. So did the others, for that matter, going by their wide grins. He egged them on, singing a half-forgotten song, “ _Splish splash, we were taking a bath! Having fun out on the seas!_ ”

Eventually, the splashing battle comes to an end, Zoro and Sanji arguing over who had won, even though they had been on the same team (such an odd quirk, to always fight, but those boys did seem to be the best of friends, Brook absently thought, seeing as neither ever seriously injured the other for all their fighting).

With things calmed down, the boys of the crew set about to scrubbing themselves clean. Brook started with his afro, Usopp being kind enough to lend the skeleton some of his own shampoo and such seeing as they both had such curly hair. Murky suds and water flowed down off of all of them. With his afro cleaned, Brook moved on to his body, only to hit a snag. Rubbing a bar of soap over bones wasn’t particularly effective in cleaning them, not to mention that the bar of soap would not fit into all the crevices and joints that he could _feel_ dust and dirt grinding in now that he was paying attention.

“Here,” Chopper said, tapping the musician’s tibia and offering a thick bristle brush.

“Ah, Chopper-san, I─”

“You’ve been picking at your joints and I know that some places can be hard to scrub with just soap and hands. I usually use this brush for my antlers, so it should work well for bones, right?”

Brook couldn’t help but smile at the little doctor’s kindness. “Thank you very much, Chopper-san. I believe it will do just fine.”

And it did. It was a bit of a learning curve to figure out the positions and angles necessary to get everything clean, and he ended up needing help getting inside his skull and ribcage. Usopp had freaked out a bit about putting his hands _inside_ of someone when Zoro and Sanji had both made him take a turn, but considering that one of the ship rules was to always have a Non-User in the bath with a User (a precaution against standing water and its draining effects), it was necessary. Franky’s hands were to big to reliably fit and maneuver in those spaces and Zoro and Sanji wouldn’t be available to do it all the time. Luffy took a turn as well, wanting to help his nakama, and Chopper tried, but well, short arms or big hands, so he couldn’t get the middle sections of Brook’s rib cage.

Brook was just delighted that they all cared enough to help.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Considering that Brook continued to wear his tattered old suit until it got replaced sometime during his Soul King tour, it seems likely that he only had the one outfit upon joining the crew. 
> 
> Truthfully, Brook seemed to join them with little more than the clothes on his back, so that's why all the borrowing. 
> 
> Fighting and getting put through rubble several times is sure to get one dirty, so bath time (and laundry)! According to an SBS in volume 67, the guys sometimes have Great Bath Parties, so I used that here. 
> 
> Troubles getting skeleton joints and stuff was a little bit inspired by a scene from the series Overlord, though Ainz's solution was to have a bath in slimes (the monsters, they ate the dust and dirt off him or something). 
> 
> Oh, and the tibia is the front bone in the lower leg. 
> 
> And if you clasp your hands together in a certain way, partially submerge them, and then squeeze, you can squirt water. Now think of doing that with Franky's giant hands (even pre-timeskip). Yeah, decent sized water gun (and Brook couldn't do it at all, being bones, lol).


	52. Play That Song

“Hey, ossan, can you play Binks’s Sake?” Luffy asked the old man at the piano in the bar.

“Nahahaha! I can, kid, but I can’t do it justice,” the old man replied, tipping his cowboy hat at the young captain. The kid had been here for the better part of three hours, attentive to the music and happy to chat with the elderly musician. He was an honest kid too, not hiding that he was a pirate (the old man always had a soft spot for light hearted pirates) or that his whole crew was scattered around the town and port.

“Liar! You’ve been saying that for years and I’ve yet to hear anyone play is better,” the bartender threw in his two cents.

“I’m tellin’ ya, I’ve heard it played better,” the old pianist returned with a grin.

“And I’ve told you since I was a wee lad that it’s not possible, even if you don’t remember much of anything before you drifted into the waters around here. If there’s someone out there who plays it better than you, they’ve got to have a divine hand at the piano.”

“Shishishi, come on, ossan. Play!” Luffy laughed.

“Nahahaha, you got it, kid!” And so the old man played.

“So kid, was that the best version you’ve ever heard of that song or what?” the bartender asked once the old man finished, sure of the answer.

“Shishishi, nope!” Luffy said with a grin, laughing more as the bartender’s jaw dropped, causing the old man to join him in laughing. “My musician is the best in the world! He’s a skeleton! But you play pretty good too, Cowboy-ossan.” No one played as good as Brook, but that didn’t mean Luffy couldn’t enjoy someone else playing.

“Nahahaha! Is that so? You might want to try pestering him to come out here then. I wouldn’t mind hearing someone play better than me. We could even play a duet!”

“That’s a great idea, Cowboy-ossan! I’ll go get Brook!” Luffy said, running out of the bar to fetch his musician. Brook would have so much fun playing with the awesome Cowboy-ossan!

The old man just laughed some more at the boy’s enthusiasm and scratched his head at the name of this other musician, then got back to playing for the other day patrons.

It wasn’t long before he heard the excitable kid’s voice come bouncing back, a deeper, more melodic voice answering the kid. The old man smiled to himself, _Let’s see if this guy’s really that good._ Scooting sideways on the piano bench as he ended his current song, he started a basic single piano duet from when he had just started learning after arriving on this island. His grin stretched wider when he heard the hurried tap of boots as the other musician quickly came in and settled on piano bench, easily diving into the melody of the song. They finished that one and he let the kid’s musician pick the next song and they just kept going and going and going. There was no eye contact, no looking for signals from the other. They just played, complimenting and working around each other. The old man had to admit, the kid’s musician was indeed better than him, but that just made it a pleasure to play with a true maestro.

And then the old man let the kid’s musician take over the piano, somehow knowing that the other was going to play that song.

It was just like he remembered. The song that was meant for any and every occasion, that was the heart and soul of life itself. And it was played in that way he had always tried to replicate ever since he remembered his love of music and decided to learn to play himself.

More than that, looking at the tall, afroed figure playing at the piano seemed to stir a sense of nostalgia he hadn’t felt so strongly since he first heard the song on this island.

Too soon, the song ended and the old man was sure that the only one out doing him in their applause was the kid.

“Looks like I owe you an apology,” the bartender said, looking a mite embarrassed. “Guess there is someone out there who can play it better.”

“Nahahaha!” the old man laughed, only to startle to a stop when the kid’s musician whipped around with ridiculous speed. They simple stared at each other. Well, the old man assumed the kid’s musician was staring, since the guy didn’t have eyes, being a skeleton and all.

The skeleton got up and stiffly came over. His hand hovered uncertainly before he set a bony finger against the other’s face and traced the tattoo under his eye and then the one on his chin.

“Y-Yorki-san?” the skeleton asked, sounding shell shocked.

“That’s my name, though I don’t think we were introduced,” Yorki said, tilting his head at the towering musician. “I can’t shake the feeling I know you from somewhere, though you would think I would remember a living skeleton, of all things… Must’ve been before I ended up here. Can’t remember much from before nearly 55 years ago. Just a love for music and the sea, and a promise to return to child who’s probably grown up and more than done with waiting for me to show up.”

The skeleton’s response was part hysterical laugh, part heart-wrenching sob. “I-I might have a f-fix for that, if y-you’d care to l-listen?”

The skeleton, no, Brook played the piano and told the story of a man from a lifetime ago in the West Blue known as Calico Yorki, captain of the Rumbar Pirates. As the musician played, the old man remembered things he hadn’t in over fifty years. There was shame in forgetting the specifics of his promise to Laboon, in forgetting his wonderful best friend who was alive (though not exactly in the flesh) before him, but there was joy and wonder in those memories too for the life he had lived. In exchange, he told his former first mate (Yorki knew Brook belonged to the kid now more than him, not to mention that Yorki was out of the pirate game anyway while Brook was clearly still in it) of his life after his memories began. Of waking up in the doctor’s house, no solid memories of his past, of deciding to learn to play the piano when no musician he met could match the memory of that song, watching the town grow into a city, the rise and fall of the first Pirate King (what a surprise he was in the presence of the second), and getting old (his friend had not only cheated death, but all the trouble of a body getting old and worn out, the lucky bastard).

It was a happy afternoon and as evening came, the rest of the kid’s (and Brook’s) crew gathered, telling stories of their own adventures.

As it turned to night, Yorki called out once more, “Hey, Brook! Let’s play _that song_!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So Black' Victor Cachat over on FanFiction asked back at chapter 39 about maybe having Luffy and Yorki meet up, so here it is, since I finally got inspired.
> 
> I have a thing for making these canon compliant/plausible, so to keep that, the story here is that Yorki made it through the Calm Belt, but ended up in a life boat with no pirate markers in the South Blue (it had to be that or the East). Being in one of the four Blues, I don't think people there pay much attention to news in other Blues and only the world changing stuff from the Grand Line (what with crossing into other seas being difficult because of the Calm Belt and Red Line), so Captain Calico Yorki wouldn't be a known figure to normal folk who are likely to never meet him. And while the sickness that Yorki was dying from was cured, it messed him up bad and he couldn't remember his past clearly (kind of like Sabo, but with more memories) because if he did survive and remember, I feel there's no way Yorki wouldn't have gone to Laboon, even if it was just to say he was out of the trip around the world but others were still going. Also, Yorki was never shown playing an instrument, so I ad libbed that he didn't play before, just enjoyed listening, but learned to play after he returned to the Blues.
> 
> As for how the Straw Hats end up in the South Blue, cutting across the Calm Belt seems like a good way to lose the Marines and Nami's world map could use a stop in the Blues, even if they are already mapped out by others.


	53. Matters of the Heart

“Hey, Brook, can I talk with you for a bit?”

“Certainly, Usopp-san,” Brook replied, gesturing to the bench behind him.

The old skeleton patiently waited for the nervous sniper to broach whatever subject had the boy seeking his company, keeping an eye on the Log Pose and waves as he was currently acting as the helmsman (the job tended to be passed around, though it was mainly himself or Franky since they had the experience).

“I─ There’s a girl I think I like ─you know, _like_ like─ back on my home island…” Usopp trailed off, his gathered courage fading.

Brook chuckled warmly. “Matters of the heart, Usopp-san? I’m glad you feel so comfortable as to ask myself, seeing as I no longer have a heart, yohohoho!”

“That’s a lie and you know it,” Usopp returned with a relieved grin. He hadn’t expected Brook to turn him away, the old man loved to be there for them, but still, it was just that kind of touchy subject.

Brook just laughed at being called out by the crew’s designated liar. “So a girl, hmm? I’m sure she’s a fine young lady, Usopp-san. You’re an upstanding young man yourself, if one holds no problems with a bit of piracy. Though I have known some ladies to be attracted to pirates for sense of wild danger─”

“No, no! Nothing like that! I’m not looking for advice on how to win her heart or anything!” Usopp quickly got out. He did not need images of their perverted grandfatherly musician successfully wooing a girl. Especially when he would imagine these girls falling for a _skeleton_ even if that hadn’t been the case (he’d only known Brook as a skeleton, so it was hard to imagine him in the flesh). “I… I guess I was trying to figure out how I really feel, how to act on that, and what comes after, maybe…”

Brook hummed in thought. “How very considerate of you, to think of the future like that. Young men are too often caught up in the passion of love to consider its consequences, though I suppose not being able to see each other anytime soon does give one pause for thought.” Brook turned his head to look at Usopp behind him. “I’m not entirely sure I would be the best to advise you in this situation, generally being over fifty years out of date and all.”

“Well, I don’t think Sanji or Zoro’d have any good advice,” Usopp said with a shrug. “Zoro doesn’t really notice women and Sanji goes for any girl. Chopper and Luffy are both younger than me and just as oblivious to romance as Zoro. There’s no way I could ask Nami or Robin. I mean, guys don’t ask girls for this sort of advice, you know?”

Brook chuckled. “And that is a shame for them. ‘No one understands women better than another woman,’ as I was once told in my youth. And why not Franky-san? I don’t think it would be mistaken to believe our shipwright has had some romance in his life before and he’s certainly more contemporary than myself.”

“I did consider asking him, but well…” Usopp nervously tangled and untangled his fingers. “He’s always really confident in himself and I’m… not. And, don’t take this the wrong way, Brook, you seem like you might have been more like me when you were younger, not so… confident and self-assured.” Usopp paused, waiting for Brook’s reaction.

Brook gave a wistful chuckle. “You wouldn’t be entirely wrong, Usopp-san. I was confident in music, but little else at first. It took time and experience to realize I was more capable than I thought myself to be. You’ve come quite a ways in that regard yourself since we first met, Usopp-san.”

Usopp smiled as the honest praise warmed his heart. “Yeah, so there was that and Kaya, the girl I like, is the heiress to the biggest mansion on my island. I remember back when you did that formal introduction for joining the crew, you mentioned serving your home kingdom’s military, so I thought you might know some stuff about high society and dating there. Um, do you?”

“As a matter of fact, I do,” Brook replied, working to call up such old memories about social customs he’d never really cared for. He hadn’t been a blueblood himself and so such social rules had hardly applied to him. “Firstly, it’s not ‘dating,’ but ‘courting.’ And yes, there is a difference,” Brook said with a pointed stare before Usopp could interrupt. “Courting requires the approval of girl’s father and there is a certain formalness to it, along with rules for when certain actions or gifts are acceptable, and there is usually an end goal of marriage in a courtship. Unless a scandal or some other loss of ranking occurs, it is considered terrible manners to cut off a courtship, so it is not something to enter into lightly, as dating sometimes is.”

“Oh,” Usopp replied, looking pale and shaken by the thoughts of so many rules to dating someone. “Ah, but Kaya’s parents died…”

“Then it would be at her guardian’s discretion that she would be courted,” Brook told him, and seeing the sniper’s discomfort, continued, “Though rest assured, Usopp-san, the strictness to such codes varies by the social ranking of the heiress in question and how much the family decides to hold to these rules.”

“Right. Okay. I’ll just… get a book on it or something at the next port,” Usopp said, nodding to himself. It would be doable, and he could always ask Brook for help with the book, maybe Robin if he brushed it off as a fancy to improve his storytelling or something (though he had to admit, deep down, that Robin would see right through that, if she wasn’t already listening to this conversation). “And there was one other thing I kind of wanted to ask about, though I’m not as sure you can help on this one. I mean, we’ve all kind of heard about each other’s childhoods here, mostly because they were relevant in some way to some enemies attacking us or something, except yours, so I don’t know if you know about this kind of─”

“Usopp-san, you are rambling,” Brook cut in, gently rebuking the boy. “I have nothing to hide of my past and will gladly try to use my own experiences to sort out your worries.”

“Okay,” Usopp quietly answered. “See, I’m worried that if I do m-marry Kaya, or some other girl, I would end up hurting her. I mean, Luffy’s going to be the Pirate King and the World Government has been really terrible to anyone associated to the first one, like that whole mess with… Ace, and we’ve already declared war on them back at Eines Lobby…”

“But that is not your biggest concern,” Brook said with keen insight. “By the time Luffy-san is King, we will be more than strong enough to hold an island like a Yonkou, so any family of the crew’s that needed protection would be safe in such a place. There may not even be a World Government left standing considering all the unrest and upheaval going on in the world, or at least not one the same as it is now. So what is your real concern?”

“That I might leave her one day to return to sea, like my dad left me and my mom,” Usopp quietly confessed.

Brook was silent and Usopp couldn’t take it.

“It’s not that I hate my dad for that or anything. I was, am proud of him! He’s the sniper for a Yonkou! A brave warrior of the sea! But…” Usopp choked on the words as his eyes watered.

“But he wasn’t there, and that hurt,” Brook softly finished, getting a teary nod from Usopp. “My father was a soldier. He wanted and pushed me to be a soldier as well, even when I told him I wanted to be a musician. He was not a bad man, but he was strict and demanding. Good was not good enough. He wanted me to be great, like he never could be. I wanted him to be proud of me, so I applied myself to be a soldier like my father, to be the soldier he wanted me to be, yet at the same time I resented him. I resented that he could not be proud of me being me, of being a skilled musician. My father was there for me, yet at the same time he wasn’t.”

“Were… were you ever afraid of being like him?” Usopp asked. “Sometimes… I’m afraid I’ll be like my dad and leave my wife to die and my child to grow up alone.”

Brook sighed, taking a hand off the wheel to pet Usopp’s head. “I once was. I was afraid that I might one day scorn the talent of a child that was mine just to try and live the life I wanted for myself through them. However, one day I realized that the fear itself would keep me from doing so because I wouldn’t want them to experience the same harsh childhood that I did. It may now be beyond my ability to have a child of my own, but I like to think that I can still use that lesson in helping this crew.”

Usopp sniffed and wiped at his eyes. “Thanks. You would have made an awesome dad, Brook, though you’re more like a grandpa here,” he said with smile.

Brook gave a scoff of mock outrage. “Behave yourself, young man, or I’ll send you to your room without dinner for disrespecting your elders.”

There was a beat silence before they both split into peals of laughter, Usopp’s worries now forgotten.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I guess this is kind of a belated Valentine's Day type chapter? I mean, love is a theme here, but then Brook and Usopp ran away with it to other topics. So yeah, Brook and Usopp bonding that is really bitter-sweet.


	54. Anniversaries

A little known fact about Brook was that he celebrated anniversaries for the big moments in his life, mostly because these celebrations weren’t overt or publicized (and for fifty years he had an unreliable sense of time to observe them with). His celebrations were really more of him playing a select set of music from his vast repertoire for the day with a side of absentminded remembrance than the gift giving or parties that most associated with an anniversary, but still, it was his preferred way of acknowledging those special days.

The first anniversary Brook took to celebrating was the day he was promoted to Battle Convoy Captain. It was all his father had wanted of him, but more than that, it was great merit he had _earned_. Brook had proved himself skilled and capable enough to take a position equal to a noble’s through hard work and it was something to be proud of. This anniversary was celebrated with marching songs, his home kingdom’s national anthem, and any other patriotic songs.

The second anniversary was the day Brook set out to sea under Yorki. It was the day Brook finally felt like his life was completely under the control of his own decisions and he finally took his own freedom. The song selection for this day was sea shanties of all kinds, including Binks’s Sake.

The third was the day the Rumbar Pirates met Laboon. As odd as it sounded on paper, Laboon was their child, regardless of the fact that he was a whale, so this day was filled with children’s songs and ditties and Binks’s Sake, Laboon’s favorite song.

The fourth also had to do with Laboon, though it was their promise upon leaving him behind. The songs of this day were those with lyrics of fond farewells and promises and, of course, Binks’s Sake.

The fifth was the first anniversary of hardship, as it was the day Brook was forced to part ways with Yorki and take captaincy of the Rumbar Pirates. Brook would play sad, slow ballads (Yorki’s favorite type of song) with a few happier ones thrown in the mix, and the ever present Binks’s Sake, his captain’s favorite song, the one Brook sent him off with.

The sixth was the death of the Rumbar Pirates (and his own death, though he didn’t hold that very high since he was still alive, mostly). This one stood out from among his other anniversaries as Brook tended to play next to nothing on this day, instead caught in the ghostly swan song of his original crew. All he would play was Bink’s Sake, but only the accompaniment, often in a stilted and stuttering fashion. It was the day his life went wrong and Brook liked to think (and Chopper had reassured him when the young doctor had noticed) that he was allowed one day a year to mourn what all he had lost to this day and his inability to prevent it from happening. It certainly made staying happily in the present easier, taking a day to just feel the weight of his years and experiences.

The seventh happily broke its predecessor’s trend of gloom, being the day Brook had met Luffy and his crew, regained his shadow, as well as joining the Straw Hat Pirates (technically, that happened over the course of two calendar days, but it was in roughly a twenty-four hour period, so Brook saw no problem in celebrating it as one). This day Brook would play out his heart and soul (except he didn’t have a heart and had to be careful since he was more soul than anything else, yohohoho). The song selection was anything energetic, especially dancing tunes. And like every anniversary except the first, Binks’s Sake was a primary feature.

The eighth was also the tenth, as it was the day the Straw Pirates were separated, but also the day two years later that they reunited. It was one of two that Brook had ever publicly celebrated, seeing as he had announced this one in his final World Tour concert at Sabaody. _New World_ had been specifically written to celebrate this day, so it remained a feature of his celebrating. Because this day did double duty, Brook implemented a rhythm to it, starting the day melancholy and sad, as the separation was, but ending with lively energy to symbolize their reunion.

Last of Brook’s anniversaries was the ninth, the only one that Brook was less than directly involved in, Ace’s death. It wasn’t one Brook observed so much for himself as his young captain. It was hurtful to realize the failure he had committed against his young, sunshine captain, but more than that, Brook knew that just as he mourned the day his world fell apart, so too did his captain need a day to mourn the loss of a brother and his own weakness that couldn’t prevent it. This was the other anniversary that he had publicly acknowledged while on tour, hiding his message to his dear little captain (regardless of whether said captain would hear it that year) in an acknowledgment of all that many had lost on that day. For this day, he would play absolutely anything Luffy requested from him, whether that was to scream pain and grief to the skies at the top of his non-existent lungs or be as quiet as the ghost he (in a sense) was.

Yes, Brook observed these anniversaries every year when he knew the date and he looked forward to adding more. He knew he would add any weddings of the crew (and certain allies) to his list of anniversaries (ironically, he’d probably remember them better than the couple involved), but there were two anniversaries he longed to get a date for. The first was the day Luffy finally took the crown, completing his dream, the second was the day he reunited with Laboon (he secretly hoped that the timing for this would allow for it occur on the day he left his whale of a child, just for a sense of coming full circle in that promise). Actually, he would probably make an anniversary of the days all the crew’s dreams were achieved and he looked forward to each and every one of them as well.

After all, those events were a simple matter of when, not if.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was written to celebrate this fic's one year anniversary over on FanFiction, so I decided to do anniversaries in Brook's life. I think he's sentimental enough to do this.


	55. My Favorite Human Doesn't Swim

My new pod of the Boat Dwellers was odd, but good. They gave me food, protected me, and they sang beautifully. Sometimes they would even come play in the water with me.

My Favorite Human (as I learned the Boat Dwellers called themselves) did not. I do not know why.

Who is My Favorite Human? He is the one that sings best, the one who’s human noises I can understand the most clearly (the other humans make the same noises, but the meaning isn’t as clear), the one with the very round head, the one who first called me ‘Laboon.’ Now I know whenever the humans make the ‘Laboon’ sound they mean me and I like it very much that they call out for me specifically.

Anyways, My Favorite will not come into the water. He will sometimes come down in a smaller boat or on the small sky boat that never leaves the side of the big boat, but he does not get in the water. It is not bad, when he comes down in the small boats he will rub his human fin against me and sing for me (sometimes using the come-and-go brown fin, sometimes not, he sounds very good either way), but it makes me sad that he will not swim with me (even if humans do swim in strange ways).

So one day, I decided to make My Favorite swim.

I had, by accident, previously knocked some of my human pod members out of a small boat. They laughed and played in the water with me for a while afterwards. It would not be hard to knock My Favorite out of a boat so that he too would laugh and play with me.

I rammed My Favorite’s boat and he fell into the water with a splash. I chirped my invitation to play at him, but he didn’t respond. He wasn’t moving much, either. Not even in any of the different, strange human ways of swimming, just sinking further into the water. I clicked a questioning croon to him, but still no response. I was starting to get worried. My Favorite wasn’t moving at all now and still sinking further.

Panicking, I swam under him and pushed My Favorite to the surface. He was okay there before, so he would be okay once he was there again, right?

Once I got him to the surface, I backed off, figuring he just couldn’t swim deep. I know I used to (and still do a bit) struggle with swimming in deep. My Favorite just started sinking again. I quickly got under him and held him to the surface on my back, just as my mother had when I was still learning to swim properly. My Favorite made that hurt breathing noise humans make when they stay underwater for a long time and clutched at my back with his human flippers. I voiced my concern to him. An apology too, I hadn’t known he was so bad at swimming.

My Favorite calmed, making human noises of comfort. He wasn’t mad and wished to return to the small boat. When I started to lower him into the water, My Favorite gave a small screech, asking to not go in the water as it hurt him. I hadn’t known the water could hurt anything so easily! I quickly swam back to the small boat, staying as high on the surface as I could to keep My Favorite from being hurt. He still wasn’t mad at me by the time I got him back to the little boat and he sang to calm me down. My Favorite explained that some humans can’t swim and furthermore, some humans, like him, could barely move in the water, so it wasn’t a good idea to knock them in. I promised to never do it again.

Though afterwards, My Favorite would sometimes climb out of the small boat and onto my back. He couldn't swim himself, but I could swim for both of us. I liked those times because I got to be so close to My Favorite.

So My Favorite Human doesn’t swim, but that’s okay. He’s much better at singing than the others who do swim.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I went to SeaWorld the other day, saw the Orca Show (not that I haven't been and seen it before, but years ago) and got inspired to do riding Laboon since they had some really cool tricks with the trainers riding the orcas. Even through Laboon was a baby, he was still big enough to ride, so it works out. 
> 
> And for a twist of fun, it's a first-person perspective by Laboon. 
> 
> And I figure that because Brook can infuse his songs with soul, animals of greater intelligence would have an easier time understanding him because there would be an undercurrent of meaning from that little bit of reinforcement instead of just the sound, just for a fun little twist.


	56. In the Moment

He hated this. The fog, the silence, the empty ship with nothing but skeletons, including himself.

Was this really all his second life was going to be? Floating around on a broken ship, haunting waters that were already supposedly haunted? Sure, Brook hadn’t had much of an idea as to what he was going to do with his ability to come back from the dead at least once (records of his fruit’s Users had claimed all ended their second, or even first, life drowning in the sea where the Devil Fruit wouldn’t work), but something like this hadn’t been considered at all. At best, Brook had figured he’d get to meet his multiple greats grandchildren (assuming he’d ever settle down with a girl) and watch them grow up, at worst, watch his current friends get old and die while he had another run through life without them.

“We should have stayed that extra day,” Brook mumbled to himself. He’d taken to talking to himself aloud, just to fill the silence some. “The extra cash for another day’s performances wouldn’t have hurt anything and we would have missed that awful crew out here. I really should have listened to my First Mate. Heavens know Yorki almost always listened to me on such matters. I was so stupid!” he shouted, banging a bony fist against the mast.

“No, no,” Brook mumbled, taking to pacing. “A day’s difference wouldn’t have guaranteed we wouldn’t have encountered something in this dreadful fog. We should have gone around the Triangle, like the Head Navigator suggested. It would have been a longer trip, but a safer one. Ah! If we’d done both, we could have bought more supplies to help us go around the Florian Triangle. But we already about as much as the hold could hold,” a slight pause to laugh at the pun, “so that wouldn’t have really helped. But if we’d…”

And on it went for who knew how long, Brook finding mistake after mistake in his life. There seemed to be a staggeringly large amount of them for a man who wasn’t even 40 at his time of death.

“What was I _doing_ with my life?!” Brook bemoaned, falling to the deck in a rattle of bones. “It could have been so much _better_ if I’d done things differently! I could have…! could have… What _could_ I have done?”

He stopped to actually consider it, chasing all the different threads he could think of belonging to the points in his life he’d nitpicked. This went on for as long as, if not longer than, finding the mistakes, yet every time he found that he couldn’t predict much of anything beyond the near immediate effects of choosing a different path. The best he got was about a month after a change before he had no idea how events would proceed.

And as Brook walked down all these theoretical paths he came to a realization.

“Yohohoho!” the laugh was a bit cynical, a bit hysterical, a faint amount of amused, and all too bitter. “Who’s to say my life would have been better? It could have been worse.”

He lifted his head and let it hollowly thunk back against the planks. Brook’s hands came up to cover his eyes. Wait, he didn’t have those anymore and metacarpals weren’t nearly so successful in blocking out the view as palms (he’d read some of the doctor’s medical books to cure his boredom for a while, decided knowing what all was left of his body could be interesting). His phalanges scraped against his skull. And then he went slack, letting his arms flop out across the deck.

“There’s no use dwelling on it,” Brook firmly told himself. “The past is done and gone. No amount of wishing will make it otherwise.” He let out a big sigh. “And who knows what the future will hold. If I’ve learned anything in the past… however long it’s been, it’s that you can hardly predict the future long term, though I do hope I might get out of here one day. No, I believe I will. I have a promise to keep after all.” He chuckled warmly at the memory of the waiting whale. “I’ve not given up yet, Laboon.” His hands curled into fists with his resolve before going slack again. “But I suppose until we meet again, I’ll just have work my way forward and live in the moment.”

And that’s exactly what he did.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's a bit of a head-canon of mine that Brook is very knowledgeable about cause and effect and so layed back/go with the flow because in fifty years with nothing to do, he has examined his life from most every angle there is and realized that things are as they are, you can't change what's already happened and the future is only predictable in the goals you set yourself that are succeed or die, everything else is generally up in the air.


	57. The (Not So) Mysterious Ticking Noise

Franky had the kitchen clock pulled down before him, considering whether or not he ought to make it into a cuckoo clock (the kids had enjoyed the sight of one on the last island, Franky had too) and what kind of cuckoo to give it if he did.

Now, Franky was musically inclined (at moments, it’s why he owned an acoustic guitar, though the thing was more in Brook’s possession nowadays than his, not that Franky was complaining because their musician made any instrument super) and the ticking of the clock at close range was kind of catchy.

“Franky… Franky… Super Franky…

Franky… Franky… Super Franky…”

“Soul King Brook!”

Franky was a bit surprised that the skeleton had popped up so suddenly, but got over it without missing a beat. He was making music, so obviously the musician would show up to make things even better.

“Franky… Franky… Super Franky, Soul King Brook!

Franky… Franky… Super Franky, Soul King Brook!

Franky…”

“Chopper… Chopper… Doctor Chopper!”

No surprise when the little reindeer wandered in and joined them. This was obviously going to become a super harmony.

“Franky, Chopper, Franky, Chopper Super Franky Doctor Chopper, Soul King Brook!

“Usopp… Usopp… Usopp…”

And the sniper joined them.

“Franky, Usopp, Chopper, Franky, Usopp, Chopper Super Franky Doctor Chopper, Usopp, Soul King Brook!”

“Straw Hat Luffy, Straw Hat Luffy, Oh! Straw Hat Luffy, Straw Hat Luffy, Yeah!”

Their captain had excitedly joined in, though he was starting to drown the rest of them out, so…

“Franky!”

“Luffy!”

“Franky!”

“Luffy!”

“Franky!”

“Luffy!”

“Soul King Brooooook!” the musician cut in, wrapping a boney arm around each of them, cutting the argument short.

“Uuuusopp!” the sniper went in the background.

“I’m Straw Hat Luffy, Straw Hat, Straw Hat Luffy,” the captain’s part of the harmony changed.

They went for another round with all their parts before coming together with, “Singing our song, all day long, on the Suuuuuuunny!”

“What are you idiots doing?!” Nami screeched at them, and they all quickly scattered to escape any possible punishment.

Nami stared at the clock Franky had left behind, listening to it tick.

“Nami, Nami, Oo Nami, Navigator Nami!” she quietly sang.

“I heard that!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So that happened... I was looking through my suggestions for youtube, saw "The Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny" up there (for its 10th anniversary, I think), watched it for nostalgia, and then remembered Harry Potter Puppet Pals and decided to make this. For those of you who don't know, go youtube The Mysterious Ticking Noise. Can't believe that's over 10 years old now. I remember when it was such a thing at school. Anyway, quick rundown of who's who (for convenience) Franky=Snape, Brook=Dumbledore, Chopper=Ron, Usopp=Hermione, Luffy=Harry, and Nami=Voldemort. 
> 
> As for who heard Nami singing... take your pick!


	58. フェスティバルの夜ヘ  At the Festival Night

This whole world is nothing but a passing dream

Everyone is welcome to this festival night

Cannons and guns too, raised up

Fireworks

We don’t need alcohol since we’re getting drunk on sound

Any way and anyone, when they die they’ll just be bones

That’s the way it is for once, on this festival night

Fighting like this pierces me right through the heart,

But of course I do not have a heart to pierce

Quinte Tierce playing Fantasia, making a dreamland, please dance with me

Moving to the rhythm, come together un deux trois

Someone has fallen down sounding like a bass drum,

Didn’t I tell you? I’ve already cut you down

Speedy work! Superb skill! Looking down my nose! Yet

I don’t have a nose, Nyohohohooo!

Soul Soild’s loyal soul at my side forever,

I will not stop playing music for any reason

Death is no apology, yet since I do not have a face

My afro and violin still create my old silhouette

They are all I have today for the sake of my promise

Working myself to the bone, trying hard even in death

Just you wait for me, Nyohohohooo!

This whole world is nothing but a passing dream

Everyone is welcome to this festival night

Cannons and guns too, raised up

Fireworks

We don’t need alcohol since we’re getting drunk on sound

Yaaa yaaa yaaa! Nyhohohooo!!

Nyhoho!! Hoo hoo hoo, Nyohohohooo!!

Yaaa yaaa yaaa! Nyhohohooo!!

Nyhoho!! Hoo hoo hoo, Nyohohohooo!!

Nyohohohohohohoho~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, I found another Brook song to translate, yay! And got the full songs of Bone to Be Wild and New World (might do those if you guys want, though they kind of have translations already). Anyways, this one is set to Brook's Party Music tune from episode 556, so I love the violin in it. Such a lively dancing tune! Same translation aim as the last times, so more tune-fitting than direct.


	59. Escape Artist

“Agh, I don’t want to be bait in a Marine base to trap Luffy!” Usopp shouted at the guards. “With our luck, Luffy’ll bring the base down on our heads when he rescues us! You’re better off just letting us go now!” The guards just walked away, uncaring. “We’re doomed,” Usopp moped because a Straw Hat rescue was always a wild ride.

“Stop complaining!” Nami scolded, whacking the sniper over the head. “We just have to figure a way out _before_ the rest of the crew really hits the base.”

Brook softly giggled because it was both a metaphor and a rather literal statement and this amused him. Then Nami hit him too.

“Don’t just sit there laughing! Help us come up with a way out!”

“Ah, but Nami-saaaaan, I already… know the way… out,” Brook murmured back. He really hated being slapped in Kairouseki cuffs, it made everything wonky. The problem, as far as anyone could tell, was that Brook depended on his Devil Fruit to even exist, so when his powers were bound, things got weird. He experienced the same drain as any other Devil Fruit User, but there also little side effects specific to him, like how his senses would cut in and out along with a much heavier faltering in motor control. It was kind of like being piss-ass drunk, he supposed (he’d only really ever done that once before and kept to moderation ever since, he liked being able to remember parties, not just flashes of them), except he was much more lucid, making the flickering of his senses rather frightening.

“You do? Then why aren’t we going yet?!” Nami hissed, Usopp nodding along furiously.

“Can’t let… the guards see, otherwise… I’d never… be able to… use it again,” Brook got out.

The pair’s eyes quickly lit in understanding. The best way to keep a trick or skill uncountered was to keep the enemy unaware. Usopp and Nami quickly brought themselves the bars of the cell, scanning for any Marines or Video Den Den Mushi that could give them away. With none found (which really? Sure, they weren’t generally considered as big a threat as others in the crew, but the bounties were not just for show, you know) they informed Brook that it was all clear.

With a smile, Brook held up his hands, folded his fingers together, then dropped his hands down, the cuffs sliding right off. He chuckled at the gob-smacked expressions of his young companions, bringing a finger to his teeth to remind them not to scream in shock (or anger, Nami looked a bit angry). Then he placed the heel of his right foot on his left’s toes and gave a sharp yank, disconnecting his foot and letting the cuff on his ankle slid off his tibia and fibula. Sticking the end of his leg back in the shoe and reconnecting with his foot, Brook quickly repeated the process, sighing in relief once out of the Kairouseki cuffs.

“I don’t know if I should be disturbed or impressed,” Usopp muttered. Just because Brook could recover from literally falling to pieces didn’t mean it wasn’t unsettling to watch the skeleton casually pull himself apart.

“The Marines are all dumbasses,” Nami sighed, rubbing her forehead. “They should have known that the handcuffs wouldn’t work. _I_ should have known with how often I had to get out of them in my early years as a thief. You’re just lucky you don’t have to actually dislocate your thumb to do it.”

“Yohohoho, I do have to agree with you on that. Dislocations were never pleasant when I still had muscles to protest it,” Brook rambled in reply as he popped his skull open and pulled out a small leather packet. When he opened it up and laid it out, Brook revealed a set of lock-picks and Nami’s eyes gleamed. “Now then, do you want to do the honors or shall I?”

“There’s enough here for us both,” Nami said, considering the tools before her, “so you do mine and I’ll get Usopp’s since it’s a real pain to try to pick your own handcuffs. Not saying I couldn’t do it, but this’ll be faster.”

“Of course, Nami-san,” Brook easily agreed. He didn’t doubt their ‘Cat Burglar’ for a moment.

“You can actually pick locks, right?” Usopp asked nervously. With one of them out of cuffs and the tools to free the rest of them in the open, he was acutely aware that they were on the clock before a guard returned. “I mean, there’s no point in carrying a set if you can’t─”

“Not to worry, Usopp-san. I can pick locks, though this would be my first time picking handcuff locks and not a door. But locks are locks, right, Nami-san?” Brook asked, already fiddling with her handcuffs.

“Pretty much,” Nami said with a slight shrug, smirking when Usopp’s cuff clicked open.

Soon everyone was out of their cuffs and Nami had even picked Brook’s open so that the Marines would never know that the skeleton had just slipped out of his. Then they contemplated the cell door, as that had been designed to be more resistant to being picked from the inside, seeing as the bars around the plate for the lock were positioned such that a normal person couldn’t get their hands close enough to properly use lock-picking tools. It was not, however, designed to be out of reach of a man’s who’s arms were hardly thicker than the bars themselves and also nearly as long as the average person’s entire body. Considering that lock-picking was an art that relied more on touch and hearing than sight, it wasn’t particularly challenging for Brook to pick a lock he couldn’t see.

It only took Brook pulling Nami back from a corner that a pair of patrolling Marines walked through not seconds after he’d done so to convince them that letting the elder lead the way out of the base was a good idea. It wasn’t that Nami wasn’t perfectly good at sneaking, however she was used to her sneaking being done in places that were much rowdier or had been cased out previously and certainly not with others following after her. Brook on the other hand, had experience with sneaking out of ever changing facilities that were relatively calm and had, occasionally, taken someone with him.

“Geez, Brook. When did you become an escape artist?” Usopp asked once they were out of sight on the main road from the base back into town.

“Yohohoho, I got quite a bit of practice escaping being a rockstar and I did occasionally bring my own company when I slipped out,” Brook explained. “Are you complaining?” he teasingly asked.

“Nope! Just wonderi─ ack!” Usopp’s reply was cut short when a human rubber bullet slammed into him.

“Usopp! Nami! Brook! You’re okay!” Luffy happily cried, sitting on his sniper. “Those mean Marines said they’d caught you.”

“We got out,” Nami said with a shrug, looking at Brook.

Before the musician could add anything, the rest of the crew caught up and there was a small celebration that they were together again and not caught like the Marines thought (though they figured it out when the _whole_ crew demolished the base’s kitchen, stealing all their food, after all, the Straw Hat Pirates couldn’t let even the temporary capture of one of their own go entirely unpunished).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's the return of infiltration/stealth expert Brook! 
> 
> Also, it kind of annoys me that people will chain Brook up like a normal person and think that he can't escape (and a bit that he doesn't, but it's either being saved for when it's needed most/the captors aren't watching or Oda is just ignoring it for plot). 
> 
> Handcuffs work because the hand is wider than the wrist, particularly because the thumb with all it's fleshy padding can't be folded in enough without getting dislocated to match the shape of the wrist (from what I understand according to some action movies/shows), but Brook's hands are just bones, meaning he can get his hand as thin as his wrist (if not thinner) without hurting himself. Cuffs on the ankles work so well because the heel gets in the way and you saw the solution to that in story. If you want to cuff Brook so he can't escape (without leaving pieces behind) it has it be around a single bone and tight enough to not slip off the joint/knob at the end. And don't get me started on tying his arms to his sides. Unless the rope/chain has been wound through his rib cage, he can get it down below his ribs and get free because the spine alone is so small compared the space created by the ribcage that Brook has all the space he needs to just slip his arms out of the binding. 
> 
> Haaah, Brook just shouldn't be as easy to contain as he tends to be.


	60. Birthdays

It had been a very long time since Brook had celebrated his birthday.

The fifty years in the Florian Triangle were a given. He hardly knew what year it was while he was there, much less the month or date. As for before then, well, the Rumbar Pirates had been a large crew after the first year or two and it just wasn't economically sound to throw parties on every single individual's birthday. Instead, they had monthly birthday bashes, though they did have one extra party for Yorki's birthday, seeing as he was the captain. Brook suspects the crew would have done it for him too, if his captaincy of the Rumbar Pirates had occurred during that time of year.

Quite honestly, Brook had been looking forward to having a celebration his birthday for the first time in decades with the Straw Hat Pirates, only for them to end up separated for two years.

He could have celebrated while on tour (his fans probably would have drowned him presents), but that wasn't a birthday to Brook. For him, a birthday was a day to celebrate what you'd achieved with your past year of life with those who had been by your side and in your heart, as well as a day to look forward to the next year. The people putting this tour on with him were good people, but not the ones he wanted to celebrate his birthday with (and he was kind of trying to keep his age quiet, as he didn't need people poking into his past and bringing his pirate tendencies to the attention of the Marines).

Which brought him to today, an April 3rd aboard the Thousand Sunny.

Everyone's birthday was celebrated upon the Sunny on the actual day (the perks of a small crew). Why, they had only just celebrated Usopp's the day before yesterday. Brook had given their sniper a bit of a gag gift, a hymn for "God" Usopp. Usopp liked it well enough, though he asked that it _not_ be taught to the Grand Fleet (sometimes their lying sniper knew humility). Brook didn't have the heart (literally, yohohoho) to tell him that the Fleet already knew it, as he'd made calls to them for inspiration to write it.

But that was besides the point. The point was today was Brook's birthday and he was very much looking forward to it, if only the others could finish waking up.

Part of the Straw Hat birthday celebrations was that whoever's it was had to be the last to the galley so that the rest of the Crew would have time to decorate.

It was a rule implemented on Luffy's command as that was apparently how birthdays had gone when he was younger: you had to wait for everyone to set up for the day, even if you barely (if at all) slept the night before. Brook could image an even smaller Luffy bouncing (like a rubber ball, yohohoho) in anticipation of such a fun and exciting day.

The exception had been Sanji, seeing as he insisted on still cooking on his birthday. They had wanted him to relax and take the day off, but he insisted leaving it to them would stress him out, so they compromised that he had to have at least one other crew member helping any time he was cooking. An easy enough work around as Brook usually slept the same hours as the cook. Instructing them in preparations for every meal may have slightly driven Sanji up the wall (especially when Luffy was "helping" by "tasting" everything), but he'd been smiling the whole day.

Anyways, that little rule had Brook still lounging in his bunk box, humming in anticipation.

He didn't know what they had planned, as the crew had learned to plan rather secretively. They had even done a fairly good job of circumnavigating Robin's ability to spy on them for her birthday two months ago, though Brook had his suspicions that she didn't try too terribly hard as she _wanted_ to be surprised. Still, they had learned enough from that to keep any planning they might have done away from his finely tuned ears.

Yes, so he was laying there, anticipating a wonderful day. Brook wondered what would be for breakfast, since he didn't have much in the way of a favorite breakfast, just a favorite morning tea, which Sanji had brought a cup of to him earlier as he waited for everyone else to get up and going.

Sanji always cooked to the crew's tastes, but birthdays saw some of the best fare based solely on one crew member's tastes. Chopper's birthday had been lots of fun in that respect as it had been desserts all day. There may have been the slight worry of tooth decay from all the sugar, but there was no denying it was deliciously sweet. And Nami's birthday had been filled with citrus tang, her Mikan trees nearly picked clean (with her permission) to prepare it all. It had been a true proving of Sanji's mastery of the kitchen that they weren't all sick of the flavor by the end of the day.

Oooh, and the gifts. Brook wondered what kind of gifts the crew would come up with, seeing as they always managed something that just fit the receiver.

Franky's birthday has been an interesting one for that as everyone had hand-made their gift, an expression of how much they valued such a talented shipwright/mechanic considering how not all of them were conventionally functional. Not that this lack made Franky treasure them any less. Brook's gift of a false-guitar (basically a wooden board and rod with strings) had seen some good use though, seeing as Brook had managed to tune it well. Zoro had also been an interesting one to get a gift for since Brook hadn't just wanted to give the swordsman (another) bottle of booze. In the end, Brook had spent several hours that day drilling Zoro into performing a slowed down version of the Hanauta Sanchou: Yahazugiri, seeing as the younger wanted to be the world's best swordsman and that particular technique could prove useful to his goal.

Finally, Luffy woke up and escorted Brook to the galley.

He loved how they'd decorated it. The rooms was filled with paper cut-outs and drawings of music notes, instruments, and whales. Brook could tell that most of them had been made by Usopp's practiced hand with help from Chopper and Luffy. It explained why the boys had been hiding their drawings from him for the past few days.

Breakfast was as fun and lively as ever. Brook was tempted to ask after the ladies' panties, but refrained as he didn't want either to feel even the slightest bit _obligated_ to show him (besides, that request became more of a joke every day and he knew it). After the delicious breakfast, he was taken to the deck where several instruments had been gathered and the crew made their own attempts at playing. It certainly wasn't the highest quality he'd ever heard, but they put their souls into, so he enjoyed it all the same (and gave them some pointers).

The real magic was after dinner however, when they gathered on the deck once more, picking out the first instruments they played best, and Luffy pulled out a tone dial. Just the sight of the shell let Brook know what they intended. He could feel his non-existent heart melting at the thought. This recording was far from the swan song quality of the Rumbar tone dial, but it had heart and Brook would treasure it for as long as it or he existed (which ever lasted longer).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Birthday, Brook! It somehow came to include tidbits from all the others' birthdays, mostly because I started with a bit from Usopp's, then Sanji's and Robin's, then figured "what the hey, might as well get everyone's in here."


	61. Yomi Yomi no Mi

_An excerpt from the Devil Fruit Encyclopedia 43 rd Edition._

The Yomi Yomi no Mi is one of the stranger Devil Fruits to incarnate in this world, granting the User the power to come back from the dead. Due to the nature of this Fruit granting Users a second life, it sees less circulation than others.

Unlike all other Devil Fruits, its powers are not immediately apparent, leading many a User to believe the fruit was fake until they experience the curse of all Devil Fruits in the inability to swim. Quite a few of these died of drowning, and with the sea sealing their powers, never saw use of the Fruit’s power. The other situation that has seen the complete failure of the Fruit’s power is complete emollition, leaving behind nothing but ashes. Though there have been rumors of Users simply failing to come back to life.

When the Fruit’s power successfully activates, a short span of time after death the User will simply come back to life, regardless of the body’s condition. However, it should be noted that without proper medical care, the User will often suffer from secondary issues as their cause of death no longer affects them. The pain of these secondary issues has driven many a User to seek their permanent death, often by throwing themselves into the sea.

There are no records of any User of this Fruit coming back from death more than once nor any further uses beyond resuscitating the User from death.

* * *

_An excerpt from Nico Robin’s personal notes on the Devil Fruits she encountered in her travels._

The Yomi Yomi no Mi has to be one of the stranger Fruits I have encountered, granting life again to those who should be very much dead.

The current User is an old man by the name of Brook. He is already on his second life, which is being served with only his skeleton for a body. The thoroughness of the Fruit in cheating death is simply amazing.

Having asked Brook about his Fruit, he has revealed that the resuscitation process does include fully dying, only for the soul to be released back into the world to reclaim the body. This accounts for the documented passage of time between death and revival. However, due to his unique circumstances of dying in the Florian Triangle on a drifting ship, this time slip worked against him, leading to a search for his body. I would theorize that the soul is returned to the spot it left at, but given the time slip, Brook’s was able to drift far enough away to not be easily found, seeing as he spoke of manually searching with no hints or instincts to guide him back to his body.

On the account of suffering secondary effects from his death, I would use the word ‘suffering’ lightly as Brook tends to be content with his skeletal being in daily affairs. Most of Brook’s suffering of his ‘undead’ state are in the mental realm of simply dealing with such an appearance and other’s reactions to it as well.

In general, Brook’s skeletal state drastically reduces the means for fatal wounds as bones alone don’t carry much in the way of life supporting body systems. It is a bit of a shame, but I don’t believe that Brook could be a case used to determine whether this Fruit truly offers only one ‘get out of death free’ card or a full immunity from death while the Fruit is functional and a body exists.

_Addendum_

After two years of training, Brook has revealed the true workings of the Yomi Yomi no Mi. Its revival function is actually an enhancement placed upon the User’s soul that gives it the power to move and operate a body despite the fact that it should by all rights be a corpse. Brook can even stretch this force of function in his body to reattach disconnected portions. The effectiveness of this under different corpse conditions is in question though. There are also further applications of this enhanced soul energy, including:

Creation and projection extreme cold: Brook often uses this in enhancing his attacks. Or to help keep Chopper, and sometimes everyone, cool on days of extreme heat.

Soul projection: Brook’s soul may leave his body for an indeterminate amount of time, allowing him to noiselessly move through areas and slip through solid objects, though he cannot interact with things in this state. Brook uses it to great effect in scouting inhospitable terrain or searching for help when his body is restrained. Theoretically, this soul form could be contained by Kairouseki or a proficient use of Busoushoku Haki.

Manipulation of other souls: Brook has revealed to me, under gently prodding, that his music’s ability to manipulate the mental states of others stems from weaving his own soul into the music, allowing that energy to press at the surrounding souls, encouraging or even forcing a change in perception and/or mood of the targeted souls.

These three applications also seem to be mixable for greater results.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just decided to look at the functionality of Brook's Fruit. 
> 
> I mean, it wouldn't be very fun to come back to life after dying of old age and still be feebly old, but the Yomi Yomi no Mi can't just fountain of youth people, otherwise Brook probably should have gotten his flesh back. 
> 
> Or how would it handle people dying like Ace did with a giant hole in their chest? 
> 
> There's not really any hint that Brook has extra regenerative/restorative powers thanks to his Fruit since Luffy's tooth recovered the same as Brook's bones (even if others in world do think they're both weirdos for working like that, haha). 
> 
> The best I could reason was that like Brook, other User's souls just made the body function around the "injury," possibly even letting it heal with time as the fatal wound would no longer be fatal thus giving it time to heal, but since they would still have flesh and nerve endings, it wouldn't be comfortable. 
> 
> So the unending discomfort would lead to seeking the mercy of death. Or you know, second death because someone really doesn't want them alive anymore.


	62. Eat My Dust

“I do hope you enjoy the taste of my dust,” Brook gently teased.

“I wouldn’t be so sure that you won’t be the one eating dust, old man,” Usopp bantered back, stretching his legs. It wouldn’t do to cramp up during the race.

Why were they racing? Well, Usopp _had_ suggested a race between him and Brook while they were trapped in a cage by Hordy and since they had free time while waiting for the Log Pose to set, decided to actually carry through with it. All in all, it would be a simple and straight forward race. They’d found an even and straight stretch of ground without obstacles to use and would be running from one end to the other. Luffy was sitting at the finish line and would declare the winner.

To be honest, Usopp knew he would lose if Brook didn’t _let_ him win.

Even if Brook wasn’t less than a quarter of the weight of a normal man his size yet with all the strength of the missing muscle, Usopp still felt his chance of losing this race would still be high. Brook was tall, a simple fact that distantly registered every time you had to look up and up to meet his (non-existent) eyes. What probably didn’t cross your mind was that such height, for Brook at least (there were some just plain _weird_ body shapes out there, like say, Moria), made for long legs that made one stride equal two or three of a normal person’s strides. There was also the little fact that Brook’s signature techniques almost all relied on blinding speed, moving faster than the enemy could track. Sure, slipping the enemy’s sight did in part rely on Brook’s hypnotic music distracting them, but his raw speed to move in that one moment of inattentiveness also played its part.

Usopp, on the other hand, had legs of normal length and mainly used his speed to get out of the way just in time or beat a very hasty retreat. Not bad traits in a sniper, when the job was to work from a distance and maintain that distance as best as possible, but obviously not enough to outdo the musician’s sprint. But oh well, the race was for shit and giggles anyways.

Stretched and ready to go, Usopp signaled Nami and Brook, the skeleton joining him at the start line and Nami moving out to signal the race’s start. Chopper, Franky, and Luffy were cheering for both racers, Zoro was settled back to watch with a bottle of sake, Robin perched upon the rock he was using as a backrest, and Sanji was busy at the bar-b-que for a post-race party (Luffy had insisted when it was decided they would make a bit of a spectacle of the race).

Nami raised the cloth (which was actually one of Brook’s cravats), whipped it around above her head, then brought it down.

They were off!

It seemed Brook wasn’t out to make things too hard on Usopp, as he was running like a normal person instead of that wild blur of legs that the musician tended to use when aiming for distance using his high speeds. That didn’t mean that he wasn’t quickly opening up the gap between them though, long legs eating away at the distance. Still, Usopp wasn’t one to give up on a challenge, so he pumped his arms and legs as fast as they would go, gaining ground. Not fast enough though, as each step took them closer to the finish line.

“Brook wins!” their captain cheered.

Usopp just gave a breathy laugh and flopped unto the ground, panting.

“Yohohoho, a fine race, Usopp-san, wouldn’t you say?” Brook chuckled, offering a hand up.

“…Yeah,” Usopp replied after a moment’s hesitation, taking the proffered hand. Sure, he hadn’t won, nor had Brook gone all out like Usopp had, but it was nice to run like the wind for once without a threat to his (or his nakama’s) life. “We should race again sometime.”

“Yohohoho, do you really like the taste of my dust so much?”

“As if! You just won’t get a taste of mine if we never do this again,” Usopp easily shot back, a show of no hard feelings about the expected results.

“I look forward to it!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Inspired by the English dub dialogue from episode 549, particularly the fact that when Usopp suggests a race, Brook's response is to say he would be glad to let Usopp eat his dust any time. It's just too fun! And since Oda's speed rankings of the Straw Hat Pirates is that Brook takes first and Usopp sixth, it would be a rather unbalanced race.


	63. On Tour: Dawn Island

For a place called ‘Party’s Bar,’ it didn’t have a very party like feeling, but Brook supposed there were many a bar the world over who had lost their festivity for today. Maybe he shouldn’t have slipped out of the venue today, but Brook had felt this itch to wander out, out of the venue, the town, the trash heap outside the town, through the forest of many overly large and frightening (if completely manageable) beasts, to this tiny town and this bar. Looking at the scattering of pictures, newspaper articles, and bounty posters with memorial flowers by over half of them, it would seem he had stumbled upon Luffy and Ace’s home town.

“What are you doing here?! Didn’t you see that the bar is closed?! Get out!”

Ah, Brook knew this expression.

Like many things, it had been a long time since he’d seen it, but it certainly wasn’t one he could forget: the expression of a mother who knew her child wasn’t coming home again and just wanted to break something into pieces to match her broken heart. How many times had he been forced to face it as a soldier? To come to a funeral and watch a mother break as the casket (sometimes empty) went into the ground? Death was cruel, not to the person who died, but those left behind. Death was easy, an end, and life is so very hard, with more to come.

“My apologies, madam,” Brook replied with a little bow, even if she was one of the burliest women he’d ever seen that was no reason to be rude to the grieving mother. “I simple heard people inside and assumed this place was open.” He paused, considering for a moment before carefully continuing, “I’m a traveling musician, so when I heard sad voices, I thought I might try my hand at cheering the owners up a bit. It may be a bit presumptuous of me, but if I might still yet offer a song for what you’ve lost as an apology for barging in…?” 

The ginger-haired woman considered him for a moment before stepping aside. “Fine, but if I don’t like it, I’m gutting you.”

Brook had to choke down the laugh bubbling in his non-existent throat (he had no guts to spill), it would be rude to laugh right now, even if a small laugh would calm his nerves. He couldn’t play this song directly for Luffy-san, not this year, but to play it for the first time to the family of his captain and the late Ace, it was a far better premiere than what he had originally planned.

Brook proceeded toward the bar, listening to the acoustics of the place so that they wouldn’t damage the quality of the song. Reaching into his coat and pulling his violin out of his storage space, Brook gave it a quick tuning before pulling off his left glove. A lesson he had quickly learned upon making a return trip to the Blues was that it was best to be thorough when covering himself up for a stroll as the lesser amount of Devil Fruits and impossibilities of these waters led to people being even more freaked out by his skeletal appearance when they figured out it wasn’t an elaborate costume. Still, the glove would interfere with his fingering on the strings and, given his song and audience, mistakes were unacceptable. There were curious stares at his hand, though no panic, which Brook assumed could be attributed to raising a Devil Fruit User or the notion that it was a very elaborate prosthetic. It didn’t matter, so he began to play.

Brook was glad he’d written this song to be played solo on any of his favored instruments, seeing as he did not have the use of his band right now, nor would he have them upon his return to the Lion-chan.

Intro complete, he began to sing:

_I’m setting out today_

_There’s gonna be a war they say_

_And I fear I won’t see you anymore_

_But I lift my head high_

_I won’t give in to fear_

_‘Cause if I don’t leave today_

_Will I ever find my own way?_

_Marching forward, my goal is clear_

_Put all you want in my path, I won’t stop_

_Not ‘til I reach you again_

_We are lost souls, a flickering flame_

_Watch me burn out, more than just a name_

_Where is the good? Where is the bad?_

_Please just don’t forget what we had_

_I’ll keep you safe in my heart_

_More than a memory, you remain_

_Until the day I do depart_

_Scream to the heavens_

_We’re not quite done yet_

_Gonna light a fire in these bones_

_Stretch my hands towards the future_

_Never giving in_

_Whether your dreams are big or small_

_If it’s for you, I‘ll give my all_

_‘Cause we’re not done yet_

_No we’re not done yet_

_We are lost souls, a flickering flame_

_Watch me burn out, more than just a name_

_Where is the good? Where is the bad?_

_Please just don’t forget what we had_

_I’ll keep you safe in my heart_

_Until the day I do depart_

_Until that day_

_Lost souls, a flickering flame_

_I’m more than just a name_

Brook patiently waited for the verdict as the last note floated around the bar and the occupants roused themselves from the soul of the song.

The burly mother came to stand before him, eyes moist and cheeks tearstained.

“Thanks,” she gruffly said. Brook simply dipped his head in reply, he needed no more praise than that.

Song complete, Brook turned to the bar, pulling his other glove off and the scarf that hid his jaw down so that he could drink the glass of water the barmaid had set by his elbow as he played. She was surprised, he could tell, and also a little scared, but probably willing to overlook it all after that performance. A picture behind the bar caught Brook’s attention and he chuckled.

“I could have never imagined Luffy-san dressed like a Marine, much less a miniature version of Garp-san,” he explained upon seeing the barmaid’s curious expression.

“Tch, it was a job and a half to get those boys to actually smile for the photo,” Garp complained, slumping into the seat next to Brook. “Speaking of troublemakers, aren’t you supposed to be back in High Town, Soul King?”

Brook chuckled nervously. _I obviously need to work more on situational awareness. It won’t do to have people sneaking up on me just because I’ve gotten kind of used to having them around._ “I’ll go back before I’m missed. Besides, a little wandering is good for the soul.”

Garp snorted, but let it slide. He even contributed stories of his own after Brook had started inquiring after small anecdotes of Luffy and Ace growing up from Makino and the surrounding bandits (as he came to learn their profession was, not that he could judge, being a pirate and all).

Brook considered asking who the third boy in the photo was (a friend, perhaps? a different Marine’s child?), but seeing as today was about the loss of Ace and the hardship Luffy went through, he left the question unasked. If he needed to know, one day he would.

Soon enough it was time for Brook to get going back to the venue, before the staff realized he was actually gone. There were farewells and more thanks for the song before he finally left the bar, Garp taking it upon himself to escort the rockstar back into town.

As they walked the mountain trail, Garp spoke up, “You better help take good care of my grandson. He’s the only grandson I have left, so I better not see him on an execution platform. Or dead at some other pirate scum’s hands.”

“Of course. I would die first before losing _any_ of them,” Brook firmly returned.

“You’re already dead,” Garp pointed out.

“That just makes it that much harder for anyone to kill me first,” Brook replied with a sharp grin.

“Good,” Garp said, returning the grin. He’d seen that the other crew members were made of stern stuff and was glad to see that the latest was much the same. Besides, his grandson’s crew could use an old-timer on it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, that's pretty much all of Luffy's family in one place. 
> 
> This one ties in a bit with the On Tour: Garp's Ship chapter as it's the song Brook was writing then, and the lyrics are of my own composition. 
> 
> The photo I talked about is from the gag spin-off manga, One Piece Party and if you want to see it, head on over to my deviantart, I've got the same name there. 
> 
> Sabo is also in the photo, but since Brook was surprised to find out Luffy had a second brother in chapter 824, I had Brook not ask or find out who the third child was. 
> 
> And Garp is supportive of his grandsons when not under orders to the contrary, as shown in Water Seven.


	64. Artful Deception

Giolla-san wasn’t exactly strong, but her ability to horribly disfigure things with her “art” (Brook preferred things given such a label to make sense and please the senses, not make him wish he had eyes again so he could claw them out) was rather crippling, making weapons dysfunctional and fighting her terribly difficult.

Not that Brook would give up without giving it his all.

Momonosuke-san had asked for his protection and as the highest bounty onboard Lion-chan, Brook was nominally in charge of battle situations, making him even more loathe to lose this battle. Soul Solid was sealed, turned into some dog-head-ended cane (and really, it could barely even function as the cane it appeared to be like that!), he was rather useless at hand-to-hand combat, and Brook was leery of putting her into a hypnotic trance if this was what she made when in full possession of her senses. The weakness he could spot in it all was the creator herself. She was delusional and obsessive over her supposed art, victim to any praise that could be lavished on it, if her screams about complimenting her beauty (which they never were) were anything to judge by.

So Brook played her.

He was a musician, it was his job to make those around him feel, to bend their emotions to his tune. Brook may have hated Giolla-san and her art, but he was capable of faking interest and awe to gain her favor. It was a by-and-large unused skill after he became a pirate, but it had served him well when working for his home kingdom. Lavish some vague praises, then weasel what you need out of them while making it seem like you’re doing them a small favor instead. Brook supposed it was that special brand of Straw Hat luck that Giolla-san didn’t know that his Soul Solid was in his cane, not the violin bow (per say, as he did use the blade as a bow on occasion), when he tricked her into restoring it.

Mostly though, Brook was just glad that his artful deception had paid off. He hadn’t liked praising the woman for hurting his precious nakama, which had showed in how rather manic and over-the-top his conduct had been. If he hadn’t let some of his lurking madness come into play, Brook wasn’t sure he could have gotten those praises out. The hints of mania had also tipped Chopper-san off that it at least wasn’t his true opinion.

Still, if he need never fool an enemy like that again, Brook could die happy (oh wait, he’s already dead, yohohoho!).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was paging through my One Piece collection and passed through Giolla vs Brook. I ended up wondering a bit about what was going through Brook's head as he played his part to get Soul Solid back and wrote this.


	65. Crazy for You

Brook couldn’t (and generally didn’t) deny that he was _at least_ twenty different kinds of crazy.

These varied from the rather harmless practice of asking any female found attractive if he might see her panties (regardless of how many times he was turned down or the severity of the rejection) to the decidedly more dangerous plan to wipe out an entire crew to steal the ship’s left sock (no, Brook had no idea _why_ he had needed or created such a plan, just that there was a plan).

Most of the time, Brook kept a tight lid on the more dangerous brands of madness. Sure, there was a certain amount of release in not caring about consequences and just flying with whatever mad-capped whim his waning sanity cooked up, but the consequences were still waiting when the insanity had run its course and his sane mind had no love for those leftovers from its vacation. Too often they contained blood and guilt.

It was one of the many (countless as the pieces of meat Luffy would eat if he could) reasons Brook was so thankful that the Straw Hats had become his nakama. Sanity had a stronger grip on the fragments of his psych when he had others to help him piece it all together and hold it in place. Having something, _someone_ who needed his attention helped create clarity, kept his mind from wandering those strange and twisted paths.

And truly, he couldn’t thank them enough for putting up with his crazy, old bones and the aftereffects of his mind’s wandering. The ladies continuously brushing off his requests and attempts at catching a glimpse of their panties (he just wanted a look, going further would give him cooties). The occasional need to rub his skull in Chopper’s soft fur, teeth going across the reindeer’s stomach in an imitation of a razzberry as his afro tickled the doctor’s blue nose (was it strange that Brook made the razzberry sound without actually giving one?). A tendency to push at Usopp’s nose if Brook caught him staring at something too hard and ask if he could see it better now (he suspected the sniper’s nose was his key to accuracy). Buying magnets at bargain shops and trying to stick them to Franky while blaming one of the others even when caught red-handed (only flower ones because romance, even a man’s romance, should be expressed with flowers). Placing mikans in his eye sockets when he helped Nami harvest them (Orange you glad I have "eyes" to see you with?). Sitting at the counter as Sanji made meal preparations, only to reach out and trace the cook’s eyebrow with a finger, then voice the question of why it was only his eyebrows that were curly (Sanji still hadn’t explained it, to his disappointment). Batting at Zoro’s earrings like a cat (the tinkling of them sounded so nice). Reading aloud like he was reciting for a play from over Robin's shoulder (he elbows her when she won't let the laugh out because it's the driest one-man play ever). Splaying out Jinbe’s hand and drumming on his fingers’ webbing (it made Jinbe chuckle, and a funny barely-there sound). Flopping over Luffy and letting the captain drag him all over the ship (he was the Pirate King[to be]’s musician, but sometimes it was interesting to be a mix of King’s cloak and crown).

Brook had so many strange habits and ticks, he knew, but that was okay. Whenever they asked why, he could always happily say, “Why, because I’m crazy for you” and mean it in every way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah... Brook certainly has screws loose after fifty years alone, not that it gets seen much in the manga or anything, so just some weird, hopefully amusing, musings on the decidedly more harmless side-effects.


	66. Smoke

Really, Brook had decided to try one of Sanji’s cigarettes because he could.

After all, what was the harm? He didn’t have lungs anymore, or much of any of the body parts that made smoking bad for one’s health. That had been the main reason for keeping his distance from them in his first life. Smoking did terrible things to the lungs and throat, both of which were vital to singing and Brook was not of the mind to destroy the most portable “instrument” in his arsenal. So now that it was nothing to worry about, Brook saw no harm in trying.

_Yep, still not smoking in this life either._

Unlike people in the flesh who found themselves driven away by how they choked on the smoke tickling their throats for the first time, Brook was against smoking himself because it was the weirdest thing to have smoke drifting out of your eye sockets.

Brook had seen the trick before of a smoker taking a drag and then exhaling the smoke through their nose, but this was decidedly different. It worked on the simple principle that smoke comes out of both ends of a cigarette and the fact that without flesh trapping it in, the smoke would float out where it could, which was Brook’s eye sockets. It was really rather annoying (and a bit disturbing) to have his sight blocked like that. It wasn’t like glasses fogging over or getting teary eyes where he could just wipe the obstruction away, instead the smoke continued to drift out of his eye sockets as long as he kept the cigarette in his mouth.

Although, the guys had thought it looked kind of cool, in a scary/intimidating way, to have smoke drifting out of his eyes behind his shades (Brook had put his shades on to see if blocking his eyes sockets like that would stop the smoke, it didn’t).

Ah well, it could make for neat little party trick, Brook supposed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Inspired by the color spread of chapter 809 where Brook is smoking with smoke coming out through his eye sockets behind his shades.


	67. Keeping Cool

The Straw Hat Pirates had stumbled across a section of near boiling sea and Chopper looked absolutely miserable. Really, Brook’s heart (not that he had one, Yohohoho) went out to the poor little reindeer baking under his own coat of fur. At least this time they weren’t having to fish due to imminent starvation because Luffy used all the food supplies in an _attempt_ to make one meal.

Actually, since there were no pressing matters at the moment, maybe Brook could help their doctor.

Brook walked over to where Chopper was lying in the shade panting, unbuttoned and removed his aloha shirt (it would only get in the way), lay down on the grassy deck besides the reindeer, then placed Chopper atop his exposed ribcage as he summoned the Chill of the Underworld to rest in his chest. Chopper sighed in relief at the chill and rubbed his face against the bones beneath him (Brook had to stifle his giggles at the somewhat ticklish feeling of it).

“Is that better, Chopper-san?” Brook asked.

“Yeeeeeesssss,” Chopper happily moaned back. “So cold~”

“I could maybe go a bit colder, if you like…?” Brook had kept the amount of Chill to just below the level that would create frost, but if Chopper wanted or needed it colder…

“No, this is fine,” Chopper replied, eyes closed in contentment. “I know this sort of thing tires you out and we don’t need both of us being useless if something goes wrong.” As the doctor, it was Chopper’s job to know the crew’s physical limits and while Brook ran on soul energy, allowing him to function far beyond when a normal person would have shut down, there was still a limited supply of that energy and the use of his abilities put a drain on it. If Brook ran his energy low enough, his motions became lethargic and, theoretically, if enough energy was used at once, Brook would lose the ability to move his bones entirely.

Brook simply hummed in acquiescence, content so long as the doctor was content.

Brook hadn’t realized he’d started to doze off until weights settled along his legs. Lifting his head up to peer over Chopper on his chest, Brook saw that Luffy and Usopp had both claimed a leg to lay on and were sending begging pouts his way. Letting loose a low chuckle, Brook spread the Chill to his legs, the boys sighing in contentment.

As Brook began to drift again, he was brought back to the present by someone moving his arm out from his side.

“Ah, Zoro-san,” Brook greeted the other swordsman.

Zoro simply grunted in reply, settling on top of Brook’s arm and resting his head on the skeleton’s shoulder. Brook could have rolled his eyes (if he had any, Yohohoho) at the younger’s lack of words, but instead sent the Chill through all his bones, poking Zoro in the cheek with his free hand before setting it back in the grass to mirror his already pinned arm. With the addition of Zoro, it was becoming rather apparent that Brook would be acting as the crew’s cuddly icepack, not that Brook minded. He liked having the others near.

Robin came along not too long after (just one hummed song later) with a book in hand and dressed in a bikini. She sent him a cool glare that promised nothing fun if Brook tried anything before taking his empty arm as a seat and pinning his hand under her foot. Brook had no complaints. He was content with looking and cuddling, which was exactly what he was getting (well, at least until Sanji found the pirate pile and blew a gasket, probably).

“Do I even want to know?” Nami asked, having found them all lounging in the shade.

“Brook is nice and cold,” Luffy sighed out, wiggling on Brook’s leg.

“Oh,” Nami said, and they could all see the gleam of want in her eye before she turned a glare on them to get one of them to free a limb for her.

“Hey, this is first come, first serve,” Usopp nervously said, knowing that Nami would probably have the easiest time forcing him. Luffy would probably just flop over someone else if moved and Zoro was fast asleep, or at least pretending to be, and Nami wasn’t about to force Chopper or Robin to move.

Nami glared some more and just as Usopp feared he was going to have to move, she pulled out her Climatact, extended it, and laid it across Brook’s spinal cord.

“Chill that too, please, Brook,” she half-demanded. Brook chuckled and did as asked, making no comment as Nami claimed her chilled resting place.

When Sanji came out with ice cream for everyone, Brook could see the jealousy burning in the cook’s eye that the ladies were draped over him. Nami was quick to calm him down with praises for the delicious ice cream, probably because if Sanji started kicking Brook it would upset the balance of their living (but he’s already dead, Yohohoho) icepack.

“Ah, it would appear I don’t have a free hand to eat my ice cream with,” Brook pouted as Sanji finished handing out the treats. He had rather been looking forward to the ice cream, yet he didn’t want to force anyone to move.

“Fufufu, I have hands to spare,” Robin said, a mischievous glint in her eyes as she sprouted extra hands to take the bowl and offer a spoonful to Brook.

He could hardly refuse her, between being hand fed by a beautiful young lady and the ship rules for not wasting food, even if Sanji was making a scary face. Well, since Robin had started it, she’d probably keep Sanji from trying anything with him at least until the heat was gone.

_Ah, what a nice way of keeping cool, Yohohoho._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's hot out and I don't like it. Brook has ice powers, which should get the most appreciation when it's hot. It also helps that he's a pretty big guy, making lots of space for normal people to snuggle up against. 
> 
> I couldn't really think of a way to include Franky (or Jinbe) because he's basically bigger than Brook, meaning there wouldn't be room for the others. That, and I would kind of assume that Franky has some cooling systems to regulate his temperature, otherwise too much heat would really hurt him with all the metal inside him.


	68. Rookies

As Brook spent time getting reacquainted with the world while on tour, he came to realize that several of the pirate crews he once considered rookies were now major players, or made it major before the Marines caught them.

The obvious one was Gol D. Roger, King of the Pirates. It took some digging to find that old memory, but find it he did. Maybe a month before Brook died, he read a newspaper detailing news from the Blues (because sometimes he got a little homesick for times when the world generally made sense). One of the articles was from the East Blue where a Marine Base was half destroyed in a fight between Roger, who had apparently been raiding the base’s food supply, and the up-and-coming young Marine Hero, Monkey D. Garp (and that was another name he once considered a rookie, if for the Marine side). Brook remembers laughing at that article and hoping to see more of the young rapscallion with the balls to raid Marines for _food_ , of all things.

Whitebeard was a little harder to find in his memories, at least until Brook tried to remember any mentions of one Edward Newgate. It was the same newspaper as the memory of Roger, if he remembered correctly, though what sea the news was from slipped his mind. Edward Newgate had gotten a bounty poster (new or upgraded, Brook could not remember) for busting a “treasure” ship meant to be sent to the Tenryuubito. Knowing now what he did about Whitebeard and his reputation for protecting his nakama as well as the Tenryuubito’s propensity for slaves, Brook would guess that one of those “treasures” was Newgate’s nakama. At the time of reading it though, Brook just thought it was no less than the Tenryuubito deserved if even half the horror stories he’d heard about them were true.

Having once spotted a poster of the Yonkou Big Mom had triggered a hazy memory of a bounty poster for a young girl of similar appearance. Brook remembers looking at that bounty in horror, not because it was put upon a child, but because of what that child had done to well and truly _earn_ it. He did not look forward to facing the full-grown version, but he would stand by his crew and captain when Luffy got around to challenging her in his quest to be the Pirate King.

The last of the rookies gone big was probably the most personal, seeing as Brook had actually met the man in question: Patrick Redfield. He’d really become something compared to the brat Brook had faced back in the West Blue. The man had managed to make enough of a name for himself to land in Level 6 of Impel Down, only to be released by Blackbeard’s machinations. Brook was mostly just glad that Pato (as he had been called at the time of their meeting) had not joined the man who put into motion the death of Brook’s captain’s brother. It would have tainted what was a fine memory of one of the battles the Rumbar Pirates faced shortly before heading for the Grand Line. Maybe they would encounter Redfield in the New World and the two old men could have a rematch (even if Brook himself was likely to lose)…

It was a strange and novel experience to have seen these great pirates as rookies yet now be considered a rookie by them in turn. It made Brook wonder if the Rumbar Pirates would have become such a power had they not perished 50 years ago.

Well, it didn’t really matter now. The Rumbar Pirates may not have made it to rookies of the New World, but the Straw Hats would. Rookies and eventually veterans, the crew of the second Pirate King.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As I've said before in here, Brook is old. Old, but kind of out of touch pre-timeskip. Considering how much Brook seems to know about events post-timeskip, I'm inclined to believe he spent a fair amount of time there catching up and gathering more info.
> 
> Anyways, I did most of the pirates we knew where active before Brook died. Roger was an obvious choice with Brook's comment in chapter 506 about maybe having heard of him. Whitebeard was very much Roger's contemporary as they were roughly the same age. And Big Mom started young enough that Brook could notice her and that youth would make her stand out. I left out Shiki because his age is unknown, but he strikes me as younger than Roger and Whitebeard by just enough that Brook probably wouldn't know of his pirate career. Didn't put Kaidou in because his age is currently unknown, or much of anything else. And Patrick Redfield is the antagonist from One Piece: Unlimited World Red (it's a videogame) and I just really loved the ending scene where Brook was like "kid, I know you" and Redfield's response of being surprised on Brook's current state kind of gave the impression that they'd actually met before, not just seen each other's bounties, so I threw him in too.


	69. Bad Mirror

“You know, Bones-bro, can’t say I met a lot of zombie and shadow owner pairs, but Ryuuma didn’t strike me as being that similar to you,” Franky said, leaning against the back rail next to the newly acquired musician. The thought had been clinking around in his brain and now seemed an opportune time to ask. “’Bout the only thing I could peg as similar was your speech style. Sword style too, I suppose, though I haven’t seen you fight much, so…” He shrugged.

“Yohohoho,” Brook hollowly chuckled. “No, I suppose we didn’t come across as all that similar in personality. However that doesn’t mean that he was not still acting according to mine. One does not survive harsh seas for years and years without developing a mean streak,” Brook said, giving Franky a pointed look.

Franky stilled under the eyeless ancient stare. Even in only a few days, Brook’s playfulness made it hard to remember he was _old_ , with all the experience that comes with that. Even without fifty years adrift, Brook would still have been older than him.

Shaking himself out of it, Franky replied, “Yeah, I get that. I was running the back streets of my home city before Luffy dragged me along. You can’t always afford to be nice, even if you’d prefer playing nice. Especially when handling your average pirates.”

“Indeed,” Brook said with snort. “Most are not gentle like us. I spent plenty of years fighting as both a soldier and a pirate and unfortunately, mercilessness has its place in both occupations. And I doubt fifty years drifting in and out of madness helped gentle any of those sharp edges.”

Franky choked a bit on his spit that the elder would _admit_ to madness so casually. “Well, when you put it like that…”

“It doesn’t fit the overgrown goof image you have of me?” Brook replied, head tilted in a way that gave Franky the feeling of a raised eyebrow.

“Not to be insulting, but yeah.” Franky gave a helpless shrug in return. Really, he just didn’t see Brook getting vicious. Determined and willing to risk it all in a fight, but the cold, taunting words used by Ryuuma? Didn’t really fit with anything the skeleton had done in the time they’d met.

“Yohoho, none taken. I didn’t want to be someone cold like that, so I’ve done my best to carefully bury those traits unless I truly need them and cultivated the ones that make me happier in the moment. Moria was looking to make soldiers, so those were the traits drawn out. And while I can’t be sure of it, there may have been some traits of Ryuuma mixed in. Leftovers of the body’s memories or some such.”

“But you still recognized enough of his mannerisms to be yours to doubt it?”

“Yes.”

It was a simple and emotionless answer. Franky didn’t like that. The crew may still be learning the quirks of their new musician, but even when he was serious there was supposed to be more emotion than that.

“Yeah, well, he didn’t reflect you all that well. Too much flesh, not enough skull jokes,” Franky said with a grin and a careless wave.

“Yohohoho! Yes, I suppose Ryuuma was a bad mirror.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ryuuma, for being animated by Brook's shadow, is pretty merciless. The one thing Brook begs Ryuuma not to go after, and first thing Ryuuma does after beating Brook is go for the afro. My plausible explanation for this disparity in personality when the other zombie/human pairs we see seem to stick so close to each other is that Moria somehow encouraged any of Brook's viciousness to come out in Ryuuma considering that he was pretty cruel in Brook's first attempt to take back his shadow within likely a week, if that. So yeah...


	70. Pick Me Up

_It’s easy to forget that Brook can manhandle people, when he wants to_ , Zoro mused, dangling a good three feet off the ground. Part of it was because he didn’t look that strong, part of it was that he didn’t fight like he was that strong, and part of it was that his strength wasn’t so impressive compared to some of the rest of them. _Still shouldn’t have forgotten._

It was a simple fact that Brook was nothing but bones, so it easily followed that he didn’t look strong, what with a lack of bulging muscle. And from the single arm that was caught in the picture of the musician’s old, badly outdated wanted poster, he always was skinny as a rake. Brook was _tall_ , he wasn’t _big_.

As for fighting, Brook would tell you himself that he was a speed-type swordsman, not power. This was easily reflected by his guard generally consisting of parries instead of head on blocks. Brook avoided contests of strength if he could, deflecting force away and dancing through the enemy’s guard.

Lastly, strength could be somewhat… relative. Zoro worked out with several ton weights, Sanji could kick with just as much force, Luffy’s punches were probably even stronger, Franky was a burly machine of a man, Robin could put a lot of hands into it. Compared with all that, a skeleton who could lift a full-grown man (of average size, no one too big) with one hand wasn’t too impressive.

Well, not until Brook held you up by your collar, as he was currently doing with the younger swordsman and the chef.

“I don’t mind your arguing, but if you do not contain yourselves to a certain degree it becomes a _problem_ ,” Brook growled, giving them a shake.

Zoro shared a look with the cook, eye flicking to the lawn table with Brook’s sheet music scattered across it, and not in the organized mess of one of Brook’s wilder composing moods as it was _before_ they’d taken a go at each other. Sanji gave a slight twitch to confirm that he’d noticed that too, now that he (and Zoro) was over the shock of fighting one moment then dangling in the air the next.

“Sorry, Brook,” they chorused together. No, they didn’t particularly care to do things cooperatively together, but when Brook was annoyed with a group, he was soothed quicker by a harmony of the guilties’ voices, so they made do. Zoro chalked that quirk up to being a weird musician thing.

Soon they were back on their own two feet, a silent agreement between them to be a little more conscious of their surroundings, lest they get picked up like naughty puppies again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, I just really kind of liked the idea of Brook holding Sanji and Zoro up by their collars to break up a fight. And he could seriously do it too, considering that he can carry Luffy or Usopp and a giant bag of salt or Carrot without majorly hampering his mobility, so he should be able to just lift two people up.


	71. To Die

“Brook, what’s it like, to die?”

He’d expected this question, had spent two years formulating his best answer, and it still took him by surprise to hear it.

“Mmm, you have to understand, Captain, that different means of death make for different experiences,” Brook quietly, seriously, replied, sitting down on the lawn under the stars beside Luffy, who gave a small nod of understanding.

“My death…” a pause to work past the emotion of the thought. It was easy enough to joke about his current state of dead-not-dead, but the actual dying part, he tried not to dig up that particular part of his memory too much. “Was a slow one. I didn’t die of a mortal wound, but from poison flowing in my veins, shutting down the parts of me I needed to live. It was like something between falling asleep and drowning.”

Luffy shivered. He’d had close calls with drowning before and the thought of going through something like that without the faith that someone would pull you out and back to the air you needed, that was scary. Luffy didn’t want Brook to be scared (didn’t quiet know what to do with his own sympathetic fear), so he climbed into Brook’s lap, pulling long arms around him and pulling Brook around him so that his ear was against the ribcage where his musician’s heart would be (if he still had one, yohohoho).

“I suppose at the end, it was like when you’ve been fighting hard for so long and then the fighting’s over and you just can’t stay conscious anymore, so you don’t. You just… collapse and slip away.”

“And then?” Luffy asks in a small voice. Curious, afraid to step over boundaries, and ever so slightly hopeful.

“And then you wake up on the Other Side.”

“Mmm. What’s it like there? Is it nice?”

“Yohoho,” Brook laughs lowly, softly. “It looked nice enough, but I’m afraid I didn’t stick around long enough or go much of anywhere there to know for sure if that is true or not. But I think, if you’re rewarded over there based on the actions of your life here, then Ace-san will be doing well.”

“Yeah. I hope he’s doing really well over there,” Luffy quietly admitted.

Brook just hugged him tight and started humming Binks’s Sake.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Because someone has to ask the question eventually and considering Luffy's the one with a recent, it-happened-before-my-eyes death, he gets to ask.


	72. Skill with a Sword

“What is that sound?”

Zoro started, his focused humming stopping as he turned to face his teacher.

Mihawk simply raised an eyebrow at his student and waited. Zoro wasn’t talkative (neither was he), but they’d worked out a system for getting explanations when necessary.

“It’s part of a technique I’m trying to copy,” Zoro said, cheeks red and eyes not quite meeting the elder swordsman’s.

“I don’t recall the Requiem le Banderole requiring the user to hum,” Mihawk replied, the slightest tilt to his head. “In fact, I’m rather curious as to how you even came across the technique, considering that to my knowledge, it’s native to a kingdom of the West Blue where very few who learn the technique leave the nearby waters. And I don’t believe you’ve been to West Blue.”

Zoro raised an eyebrow in turn. “Requiem le Banderole? Never heard of it. I was trying to copy Brook’s Hanauta Sanchou: Yahazugiri. Though I think he did say he was from West Blue originally.”

“Brook?” Perona asked, floating in.

Zoro raised an eyebrow at her in reply. “Yeah, Brook. You know, the skeleton who’s shadow you guys used to animate Ryuuma’s corpse?”

“Oh, the Humming Swordsman. I think Hogback and Ero-salom did say something about him coming to Thriller Bark at the same time as your crew. I didn’t realize he was the skeleton man on your ship when I was monitoring you for capture.”

“Yep, that’s Brook, musician of the Straw Hat Pirates,” Zoro confirmed.

“When you say ‘Ryuuma,’ do you mean to say that Moria robbed the grave of the legendary samurai?” Mihawk asked, intrigued. He was well aware that Moria’s General Zombies generally weren’t actually as skilled as they were in life (Moria was not the most skilled at matching shadow techniques to bodies, he’d seen it in the zombie swordsmen the giant shallot had brought to Marineford), but Moria at least tended to stick someone relatively skilled in the same field as the zombie’s true life in them. If Moria really had gotten his hands on the corpse one of the most legendary swordsmen in the world, he would have only used the most skilled swordsman he’d come across in 10 years to move it. It peaked his curiosity about this ‘musician’ that had been deemed capable of filling the role.

“Yeah, that Ryuuma. I got Shuusui from him, or I guess it’d be more accurate to say that Brook’s shadow animating him saw fit to give it to me,” Zoro said with a shrug. There was no way of really knowing if the body’s memories lived enough to say Ryuuma himself bequeathed Shuusui to him, but animated by Brook’s shadow to the belief that it was Ryuuma reborn, it had been freely given from the legendary samurai’s hand.

“It just gave an Oo Wazamono blade to you?” Mihawk asked disbelievingly.

“No, we fought just a little first,” Zoro said stubbornly. “Brook is good, but he’s not legendary good.”

If Mihawk understood it correctly, his student had dueled the reanimated Ryuuma, but was unwilling to call it as such because it would mislead on the caliber and achievement of the fight when it was not the samurai’s skill and techniques he fought. Mihawk approved of that. Truly, the overconfident frog in a well he had met in East Blue had since opened his eyes and seen some of the largeness of the world.

“So good enough that you would endeavor to copy his technique?” Mihawk asked.

“He may not have been able to beat his own style boosted by Ryuuma’s strength, but he could keep up with and understand our fight. I heard him walking Franky through it. And while I doubt I’ve got the delicate hand needed to do it right,” Zoro admitted, “I still wanted to at least give it a little try.” Zoro shrugged.

Mihawk silently stared for a moment. Truly, he was curious about this ‘Brook.’ Not to fight him, if he was weaker than Zoro and master of a different art (he knew enough of the Straw Hats to know that their titled position was where their true skill and dedication lay), but as an example of technique. Mihawk had heard from the swordsman he’d learned (read: bullied into teaching) the Requiem le Banderole from that a true master of the technique had a subtle and _delicate_ hand, placing the slash just so, making it impossible for the victim to notice the cut until the blood pressure ripped it fully open. His student had just used the same words to describe what at the very least was a modified version of that same technique (and even modification required a certain level of mastery if it was still recognizably the same).

“I could show you what I know of the Requiem le Banderole,” Mihawk offered, more so to see if his student could point out his own deficiencies with it compared to this master than any desire to arm the boy with it.

Zoro snorted. “If I’m going to ask anyone to teach it to me, I’ll ask Brook when we’re all back together again.” Then he set back to his normal training drills.

Mihawk would be lying if he said he wasn’t slightly disappointed at the missed opportunity, but brightened slightly when he realized that when Roronoa Zoro was ready to truly challenge him for the title of World’s Greatest Swordsman, the Straw Hat Pirates’ other swordsman (and the rest of the crew) was likely to be in tow, meaning he might yet have the opportunity to study a mastered version of the Requiem le Banderole.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mihawk is the master swordsman among master swordsmen, but he can't be perfect at all the techniques. 
> 
> Considering that he hauls a man sized blade around, I'm inclined to believe that Mihawk is also a power-type, thus not entirely suited to the techniques Brook uses. Plus, I gave him a non-master teacher for Brook's signature technique and Mihawk strikes me as one to improve when he thinks he can as part of holding his title until Zoro can take it from him. 
> 
> Also, as a Shichibukai, Miahawk can get around, thus making it possible for him to visit or get close to Brook's home kingdom. 
> 
> Anyways, point of this was: Brook has good technique, even if his personal strength lets that get overshadowed. After all, over seventy years using a technique should make it a highly polished one.


	73. Faith in That Song

I've learned a lot since My Favorite Human and the rest of My Human Pod left. I can understand human sounds much better in the many seasons they've been away. I've learned that the human sound for My Favorite Human is 'Brook,' the one for Wait With Me Human is 'Crocus,' that the human pods with black flags on their boats are 'pirates,' and those of the Pod like me are called 'whales.'

And I've learned that Crocus has lost faith that My Favorite (I like his name in whale better) or any of the others will come back.

He started doubting maybe 8 seasons after they left. Wait With Me had always told the Bird Stories that had Golden Head Leader and later My Favorite in them to me for those first 4 or so seasons. But then they stopped. There were no more Bird Stories of My Favorite.

12 seasons after they left, Crocus told me for the first time that My Human Pod was not likely to come back.

I didn't believe him for a moment. I could still hear My Favorite's singing being carried to the Great Up-Down Current End by the far traveling currents. It had become lonely and sad some time ago, but I could still hear The Promise in every note: _I'll come back to you, I'll come back to you._

The more seasons passed, the more Crocus began to insist to me that My Human Pod would not return, nor My Favorite. That they had left the seas, or moved on to the Great Spirit Ocean. I still never believed him. I could still hear The Promise in the currents, even as My Favorite sang it oddly and so very sadly, still: _I'll come back to you, I'll come back to you._

Then Crocus went and joined the Pirate Pod of Wild Big Grin. I was used to waiting for humans to return to me, and though he made no promise to come back, I knew he intended to. And so he did after 12 seasons. I was a little sad that he did not come back with Wild Big Grin and the rest of his Pirate Pod. They reminded me some of My Human Pod and were good at actually listening to me, especially Wild Big Grin.

I wished Crocus had brought Wild Big Grin back with him even more when Crocus insisted that My Human Pod was in the Great Spirit Ocean or simply not coming back for me and he would not _listen_ to me tell him that My Favorite's singing was still in the waves.

However, maybe Crocus wasn't entirely wrong. Maybe My Favorite _could_ _not_ make it back to me. It would explain why his singing had become so sad. If that was the case, then I'd simply have to return to him.

Another thing I'd learned: a boat could break if it hit me. If a boat could break when I did not try to do anything to it, surely I could break the Forever Rock if I tried and return to My Birth Ocean where Crocus thought My Human Pod had left to. So I threw myself into breaking the Forever Rock.

In truth, I knew after the first season that the Forever Rock was all too apt a description and that my efforts were only ever going to hurt me. But how could I give up when My Favorite still sang The Promise so sadly? _I'll come back to you, I'll come back to you._

Wait With Me eventually gave up on telling me that I would never see anyone from My Human Pod again. Instead he focused on making sure my desire to go and see them again myself didn't get me hurt to badly. I'm now very thankful that he did, even if I didn't really appreciate it at the time, thinking it more hindrance to seeing them again than anything.

Then came Little Fighter.

Little Fighter reminded me of Wild Big Grin. Neither of them said My Human Pod wouldn't come back, that they were in the Great Spirit Ocean. They told me I was right, I was good for being faithful to The Promise. That and Little Fighter smiled much the same as Wild Big Grin.

Anyways, Little Fighter calmed my desperation and desire to break the Forever Rock. The New Promise would not hurt so much if Little Fighter got lost on the currents as My Favorite Human had. We had fought and maybe we didn't know who would have won, but it wasn't that important to find out. It was just a reason to Promise, a reason for Little Fighter to make a Mark of Faith to keep the worry for My Favorite at bay. The New Promise echoed The Promise: _I'll come back to you, I'll come back to you._

In the meantime, Wait With Me had taken to telling me Bird Stories again, this time about Little Fighter. It was nice to hear Bird Stories again.

I really liked Little Fighter and hoped that maybe, just maybe, he'd find My Favorite Human out on the waves and bring him back to me.

I knew the moment that hope became reality. I hadn't realized until that moment just how sad My Favorite's singing had become, how much I missed My Favorite singing in joy, until that moment. There was life and happiness in My Favorite's singing again and just the faintest echoes of Little Fighter's voice in the song, both Promises sounding: _We'll come back to you! We'll come back to you!_

If there is one thing I've learned in all my seasons of waiting, it is to have Faith in That Song and The Promise it sings: _I'll come back to you, I'll come back to you._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's the return of Narrator!Laboon. I know, it's more Laboon than Brook, but still...   
> And it is rather unrealistic to think that music through the waves could reach halfway around the world, but you have to admit it's a nice sentiment. He just had so much faith that Brook and the Rumbar Pirates would return and he seemed to know the moment Brook really became one of the Straw Hats, so now this.
> 
> And a few quick notes for whale names not stated:   
> Bird Stories=Newspapers (they're delivered by News Coos, yeah)   
> Golden Head Leader=Yorki  
> My Human Pod=the Rumbar Pirates  
> Great Up-Down Current End=The Twin Capes and Reverse Mountain  
> The Great Spirit Ocean=dead/afterlife  
> Wild Big Grin=Gol D. Roger   
> The Forever Rock=the Red Line  
> Little Fighter=Luffy


	74. Bitter Parting

Brook hated it. He hated that they had to leave Laboon if they were to travel the Grand Line.

It was so tempting to argue with Yorki, try to convince his best friend and captain not to go, but he couldn’t do it. They’d gained their experience, their strength, their reputation, and nowadays the West Blue was starting to feel too small. They still longed for adventure, but the West Blue was near out of providing ones that could challenge and excite them as it once had. And there was the little fact that they weren’t getting any younger. They were in that prime of youthful strength tempered with a decent amount of experience, if they waited too long, they’d likely lose that edge. And that was assuming that they ever left at all after refusing to do so once. After all, repetition had a way of making certain things easier.

It just wasn’t easy to leave their whale, their child, their Laboon.

It didn’t help that Laboon wouldn’t listen to their attempts to tell him to stay in the West Blue, to find his pod, to leave them. At least, that’s what Brook heard because he’d been avoiding any attempts to convince Laboon to do so. Brook _knew_ every reason why Laboon couldn’t come with them, _knew them_ , but his heart could barely be convinced that leaving his darling little Laboon was in any way okay.

Still, Laboon wouldn’t listen to any of the others, so the job was eventually brought to Brook with little option but to accept it. Brook tried to be gentle, use every reason the crew had come up with and held to that Laboon _could not come_ , but much like Brook’s heart, Laboon refused to listen or believe them.

It left them with little choice, if Laboon could not be gently reasoned with, they would have to drive him off. And oh what a bitter parting that was. There were no words for how that plan drove knives through their hearts, listening day after day, hour after hour as their little one cried for them and pretending every note didn’t rend their hearts in twain. To not give rise to even a single note to express the building heartache or lighten the mood. It felt like this plan was slowly killing him and Brook wondered if his Devil Fruit would bring him back to life if he died of a broken heart.

Still, they soldiered on, leaving for Reverse Mountain and crossing when they hadn’t seen Laboon swimming through the wake of their ship in a week. They had believed they’d accomplished the heart-breaking task of getting Laboon to leave them and stay in the West Blue.

But apparently their little whale was smarter than they gave him credit for. Laboon had somehow known how to hide himself from their sight as he continued to follow them for that week, continued to follow them even in the wild currents that led up and over Reverse Mountain and into the Grand Line.

The others were worried, surprised, but Brook was just so happy to see Laboon again. Even if it was a bad thing for a whale calf like Laboon to be in the most dangerous waters in the world without the proper protection of a pod with adult Island Whales. Brook truly hadn’t wanted what would have likely been his last words to the beloved whale to be ones trying to uselessly convince the child to part ways with him, and now it seemed they wouldn’t be.

In the end, it was not a bitter parting. Not at all, for they left with a promise, The Promise, that one day they would return to their darling Laboon after traveling around the world, letting that same current Laboon had snuck after them on carry them right back to his side.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I noticed as I was reading that Brook was the only one shown to smile when Crocus pointed out that Laboon had followed them down Reverse Mountain and just had to do something with it. 
> 
> So in the end, I did the whole trying to "drive Laboon off for his safety" part. They ask Brook if he can do something about Laboon, and considering that smile when Laboon shows up again, I'm thinking Brook did his best to avoid having to help in that mess until the crew had no choice but to ask Laboon's favorite to give it a go.


	75. Comfort in the Panic

Yorki has never told his best friend, but sometimes there was a certain comfort to Brook's towering height.

As the captain, Yorki relied on Brook as his first mate to privately second guess his decisions, publicly support decisions, and help steer him. Most days this job mixed with his friend's height made Yorki feel like a child getting scolded (he wondered if Brook felt like the world around him was full of children, or midgets).

Yet there were times, like now with his friend's hands easily encompassing his own, that he didn't mind feeling almost like a child. Having that feeling of a responsible adult by his side brought him comfort in the panic. Someone else was there to take care of things.

It brought him comfort even over the fact that he was dying.

Yorki felt too young to die, it was too soon to stop sailing, what would happen to his crew, he hadn't seen Laboon again. A thousand reasons to fear going, to stay, but there was no denying that this illness was killing him and he'd be damned if any more went down with him. Hell, it was a risk to take Brook's hand, to let his friend clutch it back just as tight, yet he didn't regret it. He didn't have much time left with Brook (or really at all), so he didn't regret the moment of weakness, not when Brook took the pain and panic away by being as loyal and loving as ever (any girl who won the musician's heart in the end would be a very happy girl, he knew, and now he was disappointed he'd never get to tease Brook for it).

Yes, there was a comfort in believing in something bigger than yourself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I noticed that in that finally good-bye scene with Yorki that Brook's hands swallow up Yorki's. It's not really something that can happen with skeleton hands, so I wanted to do something with it and now there's this.


	76. Letters Never Sent

Brook had started writing letters to Yorki when his best friend had finally found employment with an escort company. He had missed his friend and confidant in the months that followed, so Brook had taken to writing letters addressed to his missing friend containing all the thoughts be would have shared had Yorki been there.

However, Brook never sent those letters because mail to those on a ship rarely made it to their intended target. You could maybe catch them in a port, but on the open sea, mail often didn't make it. It was why the instructors at the Academy drilled it into the students' heads that if they spotted a News Coo at sea, they should always flag it down for whatever they could get. To always try to keep abreast of current and big events.

When Yorki came back to port after his first deployment, Brook did not give him the letters. He had the real Yorki before him and in the flesh, why would he give his friend letters when he could just talk to him himself?

It was only after Brook joined the military and began his own deployments that he began considering ways to get his letters delivered. He entertained the notion of leaving them with Madam Gertrude to hand over when Yorki made port, but dismissed it on the basis that, though he loved her as if she were his own grandmother, Madam Gertrude could be nosy, leaving him unsure that she would not read his penned thoughts herself. They were words meant for Yorki alone, even if he never did hear them. And really, leaving the letters with anyone ran that risk.

In the end, Brook gave his letters to the sea, let the salty deeps blur the lines so none could read them, and (though it was a rather fanciful thought) maybe the waves would carry the message to his friend anyways, if they were kind.

Brook stopped writing letters to Yorki once they were sailing on the same ship. There was no need, much like there had been no need to deliver his earliest letters.

He considered writing letters to Laboon, but he would see Laboon again and stories were always better when told in person. Besides whales can't read and much like he wouldn't leave his letters to Yorki with people, Brook did not wish for Crocus to know the contents of letters meant for Laboon.

But the need to write letters came back when he was forced to part ways with Yorki and part of the crew. More letters never sent, given to the ocean tides. And when Brook died and drifted alone, he composed more letters, though few were ever written since he lacked the supplies. It might have been better that way, as some of them had been the ramblings of a mad man that would only concern a sane reader.

Then the loneliness ended and Brook had papers and pens and he had to actually search for quiet moments alone to write letters to Yorki. He had missed that simple task in his lonely decades.

Brook had given the sea a mountain of letters never sent, and he would likely give it a mountain more, but maybe one day, the sea really would deliver his letters.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The story behind this one is that I like the song "If You Only Knew" by Shinedown and I like the line "I don't regret any days we spent, nights we shared, or letters never sent" particularly how "letters never sent" is sung and decided to make that a theme for a drabble here. The letters are probably going to pop up again because I had two ideas for this, but decided the other one can serve better elsewhere.


	77. Patched Up

Brook sat close by, watching the young crew patch themselves together. Their fuzzy little doctor was scrambling to treat Zoro-san, the dark haired young lady assisting him with her countless extra hands. The lightning wielding young lady was giving basic first aid to the rest with assistance from the cyborg and the long-nosed young man. A quick glance outside of this little gathering showed the Thriller Bark Victims Association had their own doctors and first aid givers doing much the same.

Brook wouldn’t deny that he had his own hurts, but he didn’t truly belong to either group and there wasn’t much to do for him besides wait it out. It’s what he had done the last time he’d run the gauntlet of Thriller Bark, and really, his cracked skull today wasn’t nearly so bad as the missing upper right side Ryuuma had inflicted last time. Though the rest of his body had taken more of a beating than last time with all that he’d been thrown around. Still, these injuries were nothing new, just cracked and cut bones like he’d had plenty of even before Thriller Bark from the raiders to his ship. Nothing to do for these injuries but wait for them to heal up of their own accord, maybe get some milk to help things along.

So it was a bit of a surprise when the young doctor came over to look at Brook after he’d finished with Zoro-san and checked over the rest of his nakama’s handy work.

“Ah, you need not worry about me,” Brook reassured the little fellow who honestly looked like he was moments away from falling asleep on his feet after the frantic work to stabilize Zoro-san. “Time will heal my injuries just fine.”

“Shut up,” he mumbled back. “You’re hurt and I’m a doctor, so I’m going to treat you.” That said, he crawled up onto the chunk of masonry Brook has been using as a seat and started poking and prodding.

The little doctor’s prodding didn’t hurt Brook, but it wasn’t comfortable either.

One of the quirks of Brook’s skeletal state was that he did not feel pain after a wound was made. In the moment a wound was inflicted, Brook felt pain, though it may have been psychosomatic as there had been a few times where he had discovered decent damage after a fight that he didn’t remember taking or feeling. As for afterwards, it was more of a discomforting sense that things weren’t right than pain as he could feel that something was off with the way his bones shifted. It was why he managed to drag himself to the kitchens for salt after his fierce fight with Ryuuma only to struggle afterwards and stayed perfectly conscious through the Ursus Shock. His body didn’t send him messages of pain to tell him that an action was dangerous, just jolts of discomfort to tell him things weren’t in good shape.

“Do you want some painkillers? Some of these breaks look pretty bad.”

“Oh, no, no. I’m fine,” Brook replied, shaking his head. Though he quickly stopped that and pushed the fracture in his skull closed. Really, big cracks in his head like this were quite annoying.

“C’mere, I can bind that shut until it heals,” the little doctor said, tugging on Brook’s cravat.

Brook acquiesced to his demands and gave a small delighted laugh when after the bandage had been wrapped around his skull he could shake his head without discomfort. “Why, thank you, …”

“Chopper. Tony-tony Chopper,” Chopper introduced himself. He was sure the old musician had heard his name before, but given what Franky had relayed about the skeleton’s past and the events of the past 24 hours in general, Chopper found it easy to believe that Brook’s mind was a bit of a mess at the moment.

“Thank you, Doctor Chopper,” Brook said, tone warm with a smile.

“That doesn’t make me happy, you bastard~” Chopper smiled back, too tired to do the full dance. Then he set about to binding up the biggest breaks in the skeleton, discovering through his medical questioning that Brook really didn’t require much more than those bandages and some milk. Chopper ended up slapping Brook’s hand away when the musician had started poking at the bandage on his head, only to realize afterwards that it hadn’t exactly been necessary when messing with the bandages on Brook was more an inconvenience to holding things together than a medical danger (unlike Zoro’s constant attempts to remove bandages, the idiot). That Brook’s hand didn’t stray back towards any of the bandages afterwards was rather nice (everyone else who poked at theirs would do it again the moment his back was turned, it drove Chopper up the wall).

“All done. Now I just need to check on everyone else…” Chopper trailed off, rubbing at his eyes. Brook had been humming softly for a while now and Chopper was starting to feel sleepy.

“Yohoho, it seems to me that everyone else is all patched up already, Doctor Chopper, and I think a short nap would do you well,” Brook said, stroking the little reindeer’s back as he plopped down next to the musician. Brook knew the little reindeer was quite mature, but with his size and voice, Brook couldn’t help the mental association with a smaller child and small children needed naps.

Chopper tried to fight sleep off (there were still people who needed treatment!), but Brook’s gentle humming and soft strokes were quickly luring him into the land of sleep. “Just f-fiiive minutes,” he yawned.

“Of course,” Brook kindly replied.

Five minutes later saw Brook walking into the Straw Hats’ little group to return their little doctor to them, the sleeping reindeer gently cradled against his ribcage. They didn’t let the patched up skeleton wander off alone afterwards.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this one was partially inspired by "A Small and Simple Thing" by sells sea shells on FanFiction for Chopper treating Brook after all the fighting on Thriller Bark. 
> 
> Brook's not quite a member of the crew yet, so that's reflected a bit in here. He also didn't even know Luffy's name by the time he got on the Sunny initially, so I don't think it's too out there for him to not know everyone's names yet. And then fluff at the end because Chopper is a bundle of cute fluffiness.


	78. Once Upon a Time

Law wasn’t sure why Nico-ya was insisting on dragging him over to Bone-ya, but he had a feeling he was going to hate it, whatever it was (and possibly love it as well, the Straw Hats were odd paradoxes like that).

“Brook, I was wondering if you knew anything about Flevance,” Nico-ya asked the skeleton playing the piano, mysterious smile on her face.

As for Law, he blanched. Yes, he had told Nico-ya of his home town willingly, sort of. Okay, he’d been trying to sort through the mess of emotions of surviving his revenge plot, the subsequent renewal of dealing with the memories of Cora-san and Flevnace, and he thought she could commiserate considering what he’d heard of Ohara and the events of Eines Lobby (also, there was no one else who appeared sane on Bartolomeo’s ship). Now he was regretting that decision as she was apparently _not_ going to keep it secret.

“Flevance, Flevance…” Bone-ya hummed, tempo slowing into a pondering tune. “Where have I heard that name before…?”

Law was going to disassemble the skeleton if he said anything about White Lead _Disease_. And he’d use his powers to make even more pieces and─

“Oh yes! Now I remember. The White Town! I had to guard a couple of trade ships coming from there back when I was in the military.”

Law’s thoughts stopped. It was the firsts time in ─no maybe the first time ever─ that someone had known of Flevance after its fall and not said a word about White Lead Disease. And trade ships? Trade had stopped almost before Law could remember.

“I always thought it was a bit of a shame that we only ever guarded the ships coming in after crossing the Calm Belt when the men who came from Flevance itself on those ships spoke of such a beautiful country. The White Lead products on those trade ships were certainly beautiful enough, though far out of my price range, yohoho.” Brook hadn’t even turned to look behind him, just kept deft hands on the piano keys and Law could almost see the gilded White Lead wares of his childhood floating around. “Ah, but we might see it yet! Nami-san wishes to make a world map, so we ought to visit the North Blue someday.”

Law’s eyes flickered over to Robin and suddenly the smile wasn’t so mysterious. He had told her how it always hurt that the first time people heard of Flevance, his home, they would curse it, call it a den of disease. She in turn had told him that it was much the same for Ohara, a den of demons. But Bone-ya… Bone-ya was _old_ , older than the prejudice, the cruel fates of their homes. He saw them as they were _before_ , places of fame for benign reasons. That was why Nico-ya had brought him over to ask that question of Bone-ya, to help him see that there were still those out there to remember Flevance as it was once upon a time.

“I’m afraid you’d be disappointed, Bone-ya. It was razed to the ground,” Law said, pulling his hat down to hide his watering eyes.

“Eh? Torao-san?” Brook actually stopped playing and turned to face them. His gaze flickered between the two before him, not that they could tell since he had no eyes. He could guess what this was about now. “Robin-san, you shouldn’t have─”

“It’s all right,” Law cut him off. He was perfectly capable of chewing out the archeologist himself if he so pleased (he didn’t). “Thank you for speaking so kindly of Flevance, Bone-ya. It’s… good to hear about it like that.”

Like Law thought, he had hated it, hated the idea of bringing up Flevance, yet loved it, loved the untainted view he’d heard of it. Damn Straw Hats and their paradoxical ways.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And Law makes his appearance. It's a similar concept to the chapter "Not Yet Forgotten" because Brook just outdates those tragedies and both places had good reputations before they got burned.


	79. Tickled His Funny Bone

If asked to pick a single word to describe the little pirates from the Tontatta Tribe, Brook would pick adorable.

Yes, it was probably a bit insulting to their pirate nature, but how else does one describe a people of such size that three can quite comfortably sit together upon your hand?

They were just precious, if a little naïve considering that it had only taken Usopp claiming that he was a friendly undead person and Boneland (always Bone for fake names and nicknames) for them to get over their fright and start being friendly. Honestly, Brook loved small things (small being a relative term as Luffy fit into that category, even if he was of average human height) and once he had been cleared as friendly they were scaling his long limbs and asking to be picked up. Before long, Brook must have had a dozen or so in his afro, another handful sitting in his pockets, and if he wasn’t mistaken, one had decided to go exploring in his boot (he hoped the little fella didn’t get stuck in there, though it would be cute to see a little person with a fluffy tail sitting in his boot).

Brook just chuckled as he shook “hands” with ten different dwarves at a time, each one clutching the tip of a boney finger. Which may not have been the best idea as the tremors of his merriment sent a dwarf tumbling from his collar down _inside_ him. Luckily, the little lady’s head was soon poking out from between the buttons of his shirt. Perhaps not so luckily, she was inviting the others to come explore this heretofore unseen empty space, which the more adventurous little souls quickly did. The pitter-patter of little hands and feet, the brush of tails on bones where Brook didn’t normally get contact felt strange. It felt like… oh dear…

“YOHOHOHOHOHO~!”

Brook was shaking with gales of laughter as the dwarves running around inside his ribcage unintentionally tickled his funny bone (Skull Joke!). Brook hadn’t even known he _could_ be tickled anymore. What a lovely discovery!

As for the dwarves, after they’d managed to stabilize their footing on the laughing skeleton, they began to laugh too. They didn’t know why Boneland was laughing, but it was always fun to laugh and even better when done with friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Brook hasn't met the Tontatta yet, but I think it would be a rather fun meeting since Brook is the type to like kids and they're like a whole society of kids (being so innocent/naïve and all). 
> 
> Also, he could hide a ton of them on his person with them being so small and him so big with lots of empty space. Like at least 3 dozen.


	80. Grow Up

It’s a simple part of growing up, but one that sneaks up on you all the same. A gradual change, yet it always feels like you just wake up one morning and it’s _different_. Nobody grows an inch, a foot, overnight, but there’s always that day where it suddenly dawns on you that you’re no longer the short one, no longer looking up to meet their gaze, no longer looking them in the eye, but looking _down_ to meet their eyes.

The first person this happens with is Madam Gertrude. She was old, even when you were but a child, and hunched over from those years. It dawns on you that you’re taller when you assist her with grabbing a volume of music off a shelf that was just out of her reach. She noticed your startled pause and laughed, telling you not to be so surprised, children always grow taller than her. She does not mention that they’re usually at least a year or two older than you were when they do, but you don’t consider that until later (not until your peers are old, and cruel, enough to make fun of your height).

The next one you remember is your mother. She wasn’t tall, but nor was she someone people called short, just on the shorter end of average. You hug her one day and realize the crown of her head is jostling your shades. When you point this out to her, she laughs and says you’ve been taller than her for at least a month by now. You think back to a little over a month ago when you came home to your mother looking at old photos misty eyed. You suppose she must have realized back then, realized that you’re not so little anymore (though you promise to always be her little boy, her son).

The last one of note (to you at least) is when your height surpasses even that of your father. He was not a short man, often standing a proud head taller than his peers. So much of your childhood was spent looking up at him and feeling his towering height that it was not until after a rather loud argument you had with him that you realized you were yelling _down_ at him and not _up_.

And this _shakes_ you.

You have enough trouble as it is with people making fun of your height. After all, you are not thickly built like your father, so you are often followed by calls of beanpole, scarecrow, and most anything else your peers can think of to taunt your stretched-out figure. You brush it off most days, find humor in yourself, but that doesn’t mean the words don’t sting and stew in your mind. And now you have the realization that you’re not even a full-grow man yet and still you’ve somehow managed to inch yourself taller than the tallest person you know. Where will it even end?

Yorki is the one to find you. He always does, you’ve been friends so long. Though you hadn’t known he’d made it back into town from his maiden voyage until he’d come walking up to your favorite hiding spot. He doesn’t ask why you’re hiding (he knows it’s always, _always_ because someone has hit upon your temper and you are still chewing it over in some way), he just starts talking about all that he got to see at sea (he uses that phrase a lot, ‘see at sea,’ because he knows you love puns, even if they are cheesy). Yorki eventually coaxes the reason you’re hiding out and he laughs, wondering how you’ve just now noticed that. You get mad because that little rascal _knew_ and he _never said anything!_ He just keeps laughing and when he finally stops, Yorki tells you it doesn’t matter. He says you may have done some growing up, but you have yet to “outgrow” anyone (he doesn’t say a word about how he wishes you would outgrow your father, the need to please him, and just do whatever _you_ wanted already).

Those are words you hold on to for the rest of your life (and second life): that you can grow up, get experience, mature, but that doesn’t mean you have to leave anything, any _one_ , behind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, hopefully the second-person POV isn't too off-putting, but that's just the way this one wanted to be written. Figured I should do some "in the flesh" Brook and came up with this thing on growing up, which came out pretty good in the end, I think.


	81. On Tour: Baratie

_Sanji’s home in the East Blue is a nice place_ , Brook thinks, looking around the dinning hall of the Baratie. A nice blend of fine dining and a family restaurant, all floating on the sea.

It was the tour’s final stop in the East Blue for a little celebration and fine dining before being cooped up on a ship until their next destination.

It’s a calm and laid-back atmosphere in which the tour’s staff celebrates a successful run in the East Blue, toasting to a job well done with champagne and wine. It makes Brook ache for the loud and disorderly cheer of his crew, the sense that accomplishment and life are being celebrated, not this quiet, subdued satisfaction.

Well, hopefully things will liven up after people have actually done more than sip at the wine.

In the meantime, Brook would enjoy draining his own glass of wine (at a decidedly faster pace) and studying the display of the Straw Hat Pirates’ bounty posters, arranged to give prominence to Sanji’s poorly drawn poster.

_Ah, how I miss them…_

“Interested in pirates, Soul King?” the Head Chef asked, startling Brook out of his thoughts as he poured a new glass of wine for the musician.

“Yohohoho, you could say that,” Brook politely returned. “Mostly just remembering though.”

“Oh? You had a different… career before all this?” Zeff asked, gesturing to the tour staff.

Brook hummed an affirmative, waving a hand in an offer to join him at the table. Zeff looked around to make sure everything was going smoothly and wouldn’t fall apart from a couple minutes inattention before accepting the invitation.

“It’s different to live a civilian life, eh?” Zeff asked, pouring himself a glass of wine when Brook pushed one of the empty glasses on the table over to him. “Can’t just kick the shitty bastards who make a bother of themselves without consequences,” he huffed out, glaring into empty space, obviously remembering a few people who he would have liked to kick.

“Yohohoho, I suppose,” Brook agreed, regardless that he wasn’t so given to violent reactions. “Though it makes me wonder why you would so happily display Sanji-san’s poorly drawn wanted poster when he doesn’t have such inhibitions. Why I can still feel the phantoms of his kicks for the one time I laughed at it! You see, there was a bit of a mess over someone who actually had the same face as that drawing and I really couldn’t help myself.”

Zeff stared for a moment in surprise before bursting into laughter. “That sounds like the Little Eggplant. Hahahaha! So, just how does this mishap with the Little Eggplant’s bounty poster go?”

Brook happily obliged him, telling Zeff of their encounter with Duval, and the two old pirates had a happy evening trading stories of the sea (and if he got kicked a few times for poor manners, well, it felt a bit like home).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is the last location I have planned for the On Tour sub-series, though I do have one more piece planned for On Tour. Anyways, just some chatting between two old pirates. And of course the story of Duval had to be told, and Sanji did say he was going to beat Brook up for laughing about Duval's resemblance to his bounty poster.


	82. Move Forward

Not again. He did not just lose another friend.

Brook had already lost too many people in his life. His captain, his crew, himself in some ways. To lose someone yet again was still as crushing as back then.

Hadn’t he been training the past two years to _prevent_ this? Yet here he was, a failure yet again to properly protect the people around him.

He wasn’t human anymore, not really anyways. If he had just quit clinging to doing things the living human way, he wouldn’t have been trapped by the stupid candy coating, could have tried to do _something_ with his soul form, maybe saved Pedro… but he clung too closely to the concept of being human, being mortal, and now Pedro was gone.

Oh how he wished to never feel this empty ache again (how he dreaded its _inevitable_ return). It was a feeling you could drown in. Brook had on several occasions in the past, only to eventually float to the surface with the threat of being dragged under again always lingering.

Jinbe’s words were cold, yet they were a life preserver, a rope to drag him out of the ache and keep him afloat.

_Don’t you hear Pedro’s voice in your ears? “Onward”!!!_

Yes. Now was not a time for mourning. Now was a time for fighting, to cut the enemy, make them bleed and break and beg for mercy. And maybe that was more than less than half the crew could achieve against the full military might of a Yonkou, but damn if they wouldn’t make them regret picking a fight with the Straw Hats, make them regret killing Pedro.

Brook would stay focused, would move forward. There would be time for mourning later.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaagh, I was so hit by the feels with episode 851! Just seeing Brook break down like that made me realize that losing Pedro would hit Brook hard because that's the first person he's lost in fifty years, in his second life. I had to do something with it, so here it is.


	83. With All Your Heart

Brook didn’t understand how a person could love someone one day and then not love them the next.

Falling in love made sense. You came to treasure a person for all they meant to you, all they were. You gave them your heart because you cared so much. You loved them.

Falling out of love did _not_ make sense. How could you suddenly stop treasuring the person who had come to mean so much? How do you take back the heart you gave them? How could you no longer love them?

Brook didn’t understand, so he took his concerns to his mother. She was smart and would know the answer.

“Sometimes, people like to trick themselves into thinking they’re in love. And sometimes they think they can love someone, only to find that they can’t. And sometimes…” Here she pauses, like she’s not sure if this bit of wisdom should be imparted yet, before continuing, “people really do love that other person, but the one they give their heart to doesn’t treasure it in turn, and that love turns into hate because it wasn’t treated right.” It’s not until later in life that his mother explains the fate of a woman that she was once good friends with that Brook will really understand how love should never be scorned, should always, _always_ be treated with respect and care. But for now, he listens at his mother’s knee as she answers his confusion about love.

“You’re pretty special, you know, Brook,” she says with a smile. “You always love with all your heart. Not many people can do that.”

“Is that a bad thing?” Brook asks.

“Not at all, sweetheart. But when you love with all your heart, sometimes people will break it. So be careful, Brook. Love with all your heart, but only love when they love you first.”

They were words Brook kept in his heart. He would always offer his hand in friendship, offer respect to those who earned it, but love had to be offered to him first in one form or another before he would throw his heart to their mercy.

He never knew heartbreak because of that.

Not until death laid claim to those he loved.

Part of his heart crumbled when Yorki and half the crew left due to sickness. They were dying and Brook’s heart ached at the thought of losing them. He knew that there was little to no chance of seeing them ─him, Yorki, his best friend─ again and when they cleared the horizon, part of Brook’s heart broke and he finally understood his mother’s warning against the heartbreak of whole-hearted love. It was a deep ache that only time could ease, but never erase.

The rest broke with the decimation of the Rumbar Pirates. Ah, but he didn’t have a heart anymore, now did he? Just a ghost of love for Laboon and music to drag him through the lonely, foggy days. Some of those days he felt he might even understand how loving with all your heart could turn to hate because those he loved had _left him_ _all alone_. But those days were few and far between, quickly soothed by the fact that he did in fact love them and that wasn’t fair to them when they had no choice in the matter.

Then came Luffy, so easily offering his own heart that he wore with pride on his sleeve (though his vest had no sleeves, yohoho). It astounded Brook and barely even realizing it, he offered his own phantom of a heart in turn. It took a little longer for the rest of the crew to do the same, but there was still a mutual exchanging of hearts. They built up and filled the long empty spaces in his heart with their love, with happiness, with life.

Live life. Laugh often. And Love with all your heart.

What more could a man ask for?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Brook doesn't seem to hate much, but he loves with all his heart (even if he no longer has one, yohoho).


	84. Heart of the Show

Oh wow. She actually made it. She’s a part of _the_ Soul King Tour.

Walking into the auditorium where they’re going to be practicing, she gets hit with wave of sound as the band is already in progress of playing the opening _Bone to be Wild_ , Soul King’s there (does he always where the skeleton get-up or is he practicing wearing it?) and ─hell, is she late?

“Sorry for being late,” she quickly whispers to the other chorus girls as she slips into place.

“Don’t you worry, honey, you’re on time. Bone Daddy here just doesn’t sit quiet long, so we usually get started early,” one of them explains with a wink.

Which wow, that’s the most relaxed band manner she’s ever seen. Usually groups like this are pushing for clockwork precision and then complaining when the star refuses to show up on time or blow their tops when someone shows up in the middle of a song (“You ruined my _groove_!” or words to that effect have ended her tours prematurely on several occasions). Starting early and letting those who showed up on time slip in without missing a beat is a welcome change.

It's easy to fall into the rhythm of the song, to sync up with the rest of the chorus. She doesn’t think it’s ever been this easy before to jump in in the middle of a song, even one she’s fairly familiar with like this one.

When the song is over, she steps forward to introduce herself to the Soul King only for the one chorus girl to grab her arm and give her head a minute shake. “In a minute, honey.”

Instead, she watches as the Soul King walks over on long legs to the drummer, how the drummer clears his seat and hands over his drum sticks without a word, and then the Soul King takes his seat and starts drumming ─ what?

“I thought the Soul King did vocals and guitar?” she asks.

“Oh, he’s the King, so he can play anything, just doesn’t have enough hands to do it all at once,” one of the trumpet guys says with a warm smile. “You ever catch him composing his next hit and you’ll see what I mean. He can play any part to any song himself.”

“Honestly, it’s a real treat to get pointers from such a Master of Music. Guys who can’t handle the criticism don’t last long here,” another says.

“Actually, for a lot of the folks here, Brook-sama is their big break taking them from local bars and stuff to the big stage,” a saxophone player smiles.

“Hahaha, basically you listen when the Big Man gives you advice and you’re going to be fine. He knows what he’s doing,” the tuba player says with a grin, tilting his head to where the Soul King has moved from the drums to the acoustic guitar guy.

It’s fascinating to watch him bounce from musician to musician, only ever greeted by warm smiles and offered instruments as he instructs them in small changes in technique that she can’t hear the difference in, but the instructed musicians obviously can given the widening appreciative grins. It’s clear that everyone here respects and likes the headliner of this show.

“Oh, I see we have our new replacement for Alice-san here. I thought I heard a new voice in the chorus,” a melodic voice sings out behind her.

She whirls around to come face to face ─no, skull, holy shit he’s actually a real, live skeleton! Not only that, but “Big Man” is a more accurate nickname than she thought because he’s bent in half at the waist to bring his head down level with hers. Yes, she’d seen the tour pictures, but seeing the image of a guy nearly twice as tall as the people standing next to him on stage and actually standing next to such a person yourself are two very different things.

“I-I, uh, ah─” she stammers because (it cannot be repeated enough) giant living _skeleton_. Who’s also (basically) her boss.

“Miss, would you do me the honor of…” his voice is low and kind of seductive and oh shit, oh shit, what does the undead man want? “showing me your panties?”

Short circuit. No suitable response found (besides lighting up like a Christmas tree, of course).

“Bad Bone Daddy,” the nice chorus singer says, lightly chopping the skeleton on his afroed head. “No traumatizing newbies with your obsessive-compulsive question until they make it through their first day.”

“Yohohoho, sorry, Angelica-san,” the Soul King apologetically laughs, scratching his vertebrae as he straightens up to his impressive full height. “It’s a bad habit for redirecting girls’ focus.”

“Don’t feel obligated for even a second to show him, honey,” Angelica says, turning to her. “He gets plenty from the crazy, slobbering fans─”

“Rude,” the Soul King petulantly mutters.

“─and isn’t even that serious about the request anyways. Just one of his many, _many_ quirks. And I would know, seeing as I’m a shrink-in-training here to pay my bills and this guy has so kindly allowed me to practice on him,” Angelica finishes with a wide smirk.

“Ah, your words wound my heart, Angelica-san…” he says, hands to his chest and sinking towards the ground, “but I don’t have a heart, yohohoho!” he cackles, popping back up straight again, getting amused smiles from the rest of the chorus. Angelica just rolls her eyes at the skeleton’s antics.

“But where are my manners? It’s a pleasure to meet you, miss. I’m the Soul King, but please just call me Brook. Or any other fun nickname you like, I’m not terribly picky!” Brook says, sketching out a bow.

She introduces herself in turn, not nearly so nervous as when he simply popped up behind her. Once the introductions are done, Brook gets to work giving her (and the rest of the chorus, but mostly her) pointers to get the sound he wants for the song. It’s little tricks like the way you stand or breathe as you sing, but she can notice the difference once she’s been coached into doing it. And isn’t that a job and a half? Brook seems terribly picky about the way he wants her to sing, yet he’s so very patient in getting her there, having her adjust one step at a time, and she can feel the smile he shares with her and the rest of the chorus when she gets it right.

Now she can see why none of the back band or chorus or even the dancers (he popped over to them after he finished with the chorus to work the rhythm with them) get upset even a little bit when he corrects them. All of Brook’s nitpicking is not malicious, not a demand to be _perfect_ , but an honest love for music and a desire to help them perform to the best of their ability and better. Brook is the heart of the show. He sets the tempo and helps everyone stay happily on that beat. She thinks that even if he wasn’t the headline of the show, he’d still be the heart because his love for the music is infectious and uplifting in ways she’s never seen in other tour groups.

 _It's going to be a good tour_ , she can’t help but think.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So the idea was to do an outsider point of view on Brook's tour, so I went with one of the chorus singers just getting into the show. I didn't give our narrator a name here, mostly to give it more of a "you are the narrator" feel without going into second-person POV. Also, Angelica is going to be making some more appearances in here, I have a few planned already.


	85. May I Please See Your Panties?

“Alright, explain the panty thing,” Angelica demanded, marching over to where Brook was lounging on the deck, idly strumming his guitar.

“Eh? What ‘thing’?” Brook asked.

“Don’t you play stupid with me,” she scolded, wagging a finger at him. “You’re the one who asked if I’d help organize and clean up your mind in our down time when you found out I was trying to start my own shrink practice. So here I am, ready to help you clean house, which means you cannot bullshit me. So, incessant requests to see any woman’s panties. Explain.”

“Oh,” he replies, and it’s a little weird because she can hear and feel the blink of surprise (even though he has no eyelids, yohohoho). “But I already have that well in hand.”

“I’ll be the judge of that,” she says, pulling up a chair.

“Yohoho, it must be a doctor thing,” he mumbles, setting his guitar down.

“What is?” Angelica asks, because making a psychological profile is one of the basic steps to being a shrink and Brook’s is currently a tangled up mess of her observations. There were some constants, but his mind and behaviors seemed to bounce around constantly. She’s tempted to call him bipolar.

“Ah, wanting to verify a patient’s health themselves. You see, my doctor from before the tour was much the same. You could tell him you were fine, but if he wasn’t pressed to treat someone else first, he was going to make sure of that himself, and even if he had to take care of someone else first he’d still check you once he had time. Not that I blame him, some of the others were _terrible_ patients, taking off bandages before he said it was okay and such,” he explained with a little laugh. Obviously he was quite fond of these people, bad patients and nosy doctor.

“I’m not that kind of doctor, but I get it. So, panties?” Angelica asked to get things back on track. She knew if she didn’t Brook would let the conversation completely derail. If he wasn’t actively trying to derail it, at which point she wasn’t sure her experience (or more specifically, lack there of) was up to the job. She’d seen him talk the Managers in a circle before, it was a psychological work of art… and she still wasn’t quite sure how he did it.

“Well, I suppose that question comes from my days back in the military,” Brook said, leaning back in his chair and lightly resting his hands against the fabric of his shirt where his stomach would be, if he still had one. “We were cleaning out some smugglers and a good bit of the cargo of the ship we’d captured that time were people.” She could hear his distaste for the smuggler’s operation quite clearly. “We caught them roughly a week from shore and so we had to help these people for the week it took to get back. I was always a musician at heart, soldier or not, so in the evenings I would play music to ease their hearts. One of them was a dancer. I could have watched her dance to my music for days. ‘What a shame,’ I thought, ‘for such a girl to be kept in chains. A shame that she was forced to do more than dance.’”

Here he paused, looking directly into Angelica’s eyes. “Such girls have a certain air to them and it always saddened me to see people who have lost the feeling of being a person.” She just nodded in reply, no words for the old knowing that came through sometimes. She knew what he meant anyways.

“I suppose she must have noticed my attention to her dancing, for on the third day she began plying the seductions that she was likely forced to learn upon me, though I could see that it wasn’t something she wanted to do, more something she felt she had to do. Because of that, I resolved to refuse her advances. However, I’ll admit that she was quite the skilled seductress, so when she whispered in my ear, ‘Tell me what you want, Big Boy.’ I was rather tongue-tied and mushy brained, so I told her, ‘If you would be so kind, miss, might I see your panties?’ She stilled and I thought for a moment that I had miserably failed my resolution to refuse her advances, but then she laughed, kissed me on the cheek, and told me I was a ‘Good Boy,’ never mind that I was a good ten years older than her. She never tried seducing anyone on without meaning it again.”

Brook let out a wistful sigh. “Ettya-san was a good friend and I always loved watching her dance. She never did show me her panties, but she told me later that she was so thankful that I asked and let her _choose_ to say no. She said that having that option was what let her see that she really was free, really a person again and not a tool or toy. I suppose that sentiment has stuck with me through the years and somehow twisted around in my mind as a way to put a woman at ease in my presence. And a chance to get lucky, yoho!” Angelica wanted to hit him for that afterthought. “Ettya-san was really something. She started a dance studio that doubled as a home for girls down on their luck, you know. Talk about passing on the good fortune. She did a lot with her life in those years.”

“I’m hearing a lot of ‘was.’ So she’s dead now?” Angelica asked.

“I don’t know,” Brook simply stated. “I haven’t been back to my home kingdom in decades.”

Angelica frowned. He was avoiding his age again, what he’d been doing before crawling out of some hole to take the world by storm with music. She knew he was older, the stray teasing comment that he _was_ old enough to be her father (the reason she called him Bone Daddy) when he’d helped her back to their accommodations after too much drinking gave her a minimum age of at least mid-forties. She knew that wherever he’d been for the past twenty-five years or so was so isolated that he didn’t know much of the then active legacy of Gold Roger despite being alive for it. Narrowing down exactly how far back got harder by the day as Brook snuck out of the venues to collect information and fished more out of conversations with the tour staff or anyone he talked with.

“Well, maybe the tour will stop there?” Angelica hesitantly offered. 

“We won’t,” Brook said with certainty. “I’ve already talked the Managers out of it.”

“But why?” she asked, surprised. Didn’t he want to go home?

“Quite truthfully, Angelica-san, I do not wish to know who is still alive and who is dead among those I once knew. Not yet,” Brook solemnly said. “I have already lost a good number of people I cared for and only recently found new ones to fill that space. I’m not ready to tear new holes in my heart.”

“Right,” Angelica weakly agrees because that conduct, it spoke of far too much sadness for the normally chipper star. Mentally, she revised her age estimate to at least fifty, probably older.

“Well, I think that’s enough gloom for today!” Brook said, brightening up in an instant. “As you can see, my requests for viewing panties are quite harmless in nature and I have it well in hand.”

Angelica opens her mouth to argue the harmlessness of his quest for panties, only to shut it again. His story of why he’s so forward in his attentions puts a new light on things, draws her focus to a detail she’d not seen before: should the woman in question seem to have trouble rejecting him for reasons that weren’t embarrassment or some form of attraction to him, he never made the request of them again unless there was a spitfire nearby to attempt to put another crack in his skull so that he could laugh it off as the joke of a question it was. The question itself had basically no tact, but Brook had a very subtle tact in when and to whom he would ask it. It was ridiculously deep for such a stupid, perverted thing.

“Alright, you do have a handle on it,” she could sense the satisfied smirk on his face, “BUT, it’s still stupid. Could you at least give the new girls here a day before you weird them out with that?”

“Yohoho, I can certainly try, Angelica-san, if you think that’s best,” he happily agrees, there’s no reason not to. “No promises though, it’s a tough habit to kick and quite a few ladies have tried to kick it out of me, yohohoho!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And I just made Brook asking to see panties deep. You're welcome.


	86. Say Goodbye

They knew he was leaving.

Oh, they didn’t let on that they knew this, but it was a simple fact that the tour staff (barring the Managers, who cared for nothing but the cash racked in) knew that Soul King Brook would be leaving the stage after the Sabaody show.

It wasn’t that Brook had said as much, but rather his actions that clued them in to his impending departure.

For as long as any of them had been on the tour, there was always a new song in the works. It didn’t matter that this was the last stop, the tour ending didn’t mean Brook stopped writing songs, but the songs he’d been working on now were ones that could be played by a single musician. He never objected if they caught him composing and decided to turn it into a jam session, still lit up with excitement when the spontaneity turned into something wonderful, just like before, but nothing new was taken to the band at large to be polished into a show worthy song.

Instead it was all the final touches on _New World_ , and didn’t the title just say it all?

When Brook had first presented the song to them all, they thought that maybe his intention was to try something really crazy and tour in the New World where there wasn’t the most stable of Marine presence and pirates were running half the islands. It had been noted that their main star was keenly interested in information on the New World. And yet the soul of the song spoke differently. It was hope and bravery for departure to a new world… and goodbye.

Some of them wanted to be mad at him. He was at the height of his popularity, life on tour with him was _good_ yet here he was saying _goodbye?_ But they couldn’t. Not with the way he was lighting up at the mention of the Sabaody show.

He’d always come across as chipper, cheerful, but to watch him talk about that show, it was too easy to see the difference in the depth of joy. Whatever Brook had planned for after the tour meant the world to him and they couldn’t begrudge him that.

Speculations abounded as to what his plans were. The general consensus was that he was going to settle down into a family life, but the definition of “family life” and who that family consisted of was up for debate. The majority leaned towards a return to the small group he mentioned fondly in stories from just before he got famous. He never mentioned names, but there was clear adoration for the ragtag group of kids (orphans, most would say, bless their little hearts).

Angelica was the one to finally put speculation to rest the night before the concert.

“So you’re leaving.”

“Eh? I don’t believe I’ve said anything about going anywhere,” Brook replied, looking away from the moonlit waves he had been watching, leaning against the ship’s railing.

“No, but your actions say you’re leaving the stage. Most everyone in the staff knows,” Angelica explained.

“Oh, do they now?” Brook returned, seeming nervous.

“The Managers don’t. No one’s thought to tell them.”

“Oh good,” Brook said with a sigh of relief. “I was going to tell them before the concert, but not a moment sooner. I doubt they’d like the explanation, yohoho.”

“And what is the explanation? We’ve been _dying_ to know,” she asked, wiggling her eyebrows at her addition.

Brook chuckled, always appreciative of some light-hearted gallows humor. “I made a very special promise to a very special young man that I would reunite with him again at Sabaody in two years. Tomorrow will be two years to the day and I will keep my promise.”

“It’s not just a ‘Nice to see you again’ meeting, is it?” Angelica asked a bit forlornly. It’s been a good year touring with the Soul King, she’ll be sad to see him go.

“No,” was all Brook said.

It’s all he needed to say, because that this special young man means the world to Brook, that he would give his undead life for him, goes unspoken yet heard. Whoever this boy is, his needs necessitate that the Soul King leave the grand stage in the music industry, and Brook would do it without a second thought.

Angelica takes those words back to the staff. They all understand. This boy is likely one from his stories, they guess he is an orphan kind-hearted Brook took in, or maybe his descendent from days when he was a man of flesh and not just bone. It doesn’t particularly matter, just that Brook is returning to a home of the heart.

Even if that home of the heart turns out to be the most notorious rookie pirate of the era. Which, wow. Yet it explained so much that Brook was an old pirate new to a crew with full bounties. And what a way to find out, having Marines crash the encore and then still getting to play half a song anyways. There were no words.

(And if they supported the Straw Hat Pirates and their exploits because the best musician they’d ever know was part of that crew, well, it was nobody’s business but their own)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So we know how the Managers felt about Brook leaving the stage, some of the fans too, but what about the nice people who really helped him put on the tour? Well, here's a possible answer.


	87. A Pirate Was I

A pirate was I, when I died, sailing upon the oceans blue

My ship was fine and much the same could be said of my crew

We sailed on seas ’til then unknown, until they left me all alone

Then long the day and long the night and long the years of my sad plight

But to an end they did come when entered in a miniature sun

Bright his smile, bright his eyes, bright his everything like sunrise

”Come away with me, back to the seas, come back to being free as the breeze”

And my heart leapt, it longed to soar, to know this emptiness no more

But trials lay in wait for the sun, traps and tricks of the shadowy one

This I knew and this I relayed, that he would be better off flying away

He did not listen, he did not leave, instead he fought for my release

And now a pirate am I, forever heading my Captain’s cry

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Was feeling poem-y with a dash of shanty.


	88. Favorite Things

Robin was dispondent today. Chopper said it was just something that happened with her sometimes. All of them really, for life hadn't exactly been kind to any member of the Straw Hat crew.

Brook understood the feeling. He'd had to cope with such days all alone for 50 years (he wasn't so sure that there weren't a few times where it lasted for weeks).

That's why Brook had just the trick to help draw her out of it.

" _Hand drawn pictures and fresh baked pies,_

_Sunshine on daisies and blue colored skies,_

_Bright early mornings when blue birds do sing_

_These are a few of my favorite things._

_Flickering candles and scaled tails of fishes_

_Waves in the moonlight and doing the dishes_

_Children's high laughter as they dance in a ring_

_These are a few of my favorite things._

_The scent of fresh linen, the sound of a hammer,_

_Ripples in tea and old women's chatter_

_The feeling the wind tugging at my hair brings_

_These are a few of my favorite things_

_When the blade bites, when the past stings, when I'm feeling sad_

_I simply just think of my favorite things and then I don't feel so bad"_

The crew all began contributing their own "favorite things" when Brook continued to play but would only sing "These are a few of my favorite things" at the appropriate intervals. The crew's additions weren't quite so rhythmatic or well rhymed as Brook's own, but then again, he'd been working on it for a couple decades by now.

Mostly it was just gratifying to watch them light up with the realization of all the wonderful little things in their lives. The small smile that graced Robin's lips told him that his efforts were being well received, even if they didn't clear the melancholy completely away.

The trick to handling such days, in Brook's experience, lay not in looking for grand purpose or anything else big, but just finding the little things that made life worthwhile. No matter how harsh life had been before, how harsh it felt now, there were little wonders to enjoy, things that were so easy to take for granted.

A list of all your little favorite things to brighten up any day because they could be found just about anywhere.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just felt like doing something with the song "My Favorite Things," so here we are. I didn't use the actual lyrics for the real song, but it's still good, I think.


	89. Law and Disorder

“Chopper-san said you wanted to see me?” Brook said, walking into the Thousand Sunny’s infirmary.

“Bone-ya, yes. Well, um…” Trafalgar Law’s words stumbled to a halt. He’d been sort of wrong-footed ever since climbing aboard Straw Hat’s ship and getting dragged into his fellow Supernova’s pace.

“Yohoho, not to worry, Torao-san. I expected this to happen. Sooner than it did, in fact, so I commend you for holding out so long.”

“Oh,” is all the young surgeon can think to say at first. “Wait, ‘hold out so long’?”

Brook smiles and Law just finds it strange that he can tell that on a face without lips. “Your curiosity for my unusual medical condition,” Brook said nonchalantly. “Or against Luffy-san’s enthusiasm. People of such a serious mindset as you tend to have trouble with him at first. However, he respects that people need space sometimes for ‘professional’ work which can usually buy one at least an hour of calm and I am the easy medical excuse when no one was particularly hurt.”

Law just tugs the brim of his hat down. He doesn’t much care to be read so easily by the old skeleton.

“Well, let’s get started then! I’m curious to see if you can find any further explanations for my state of being beyond ‘It’s your Devil Fruit Powers.’”

Law wouldn’t admit to it, but it’s a bit strange to have someone thrust themselves into his care for the first time so willingly. Most are wary of his medical skills upon first contact given his epithet and reputation, but then again, as Law has been discovering, Straw Hat and his crew are about as far as you can get from ‘most people.’

Still, slightly off-balance or not, there is a medical mystery kindly presenting itself for his perusal. Actually, a small voice in his mind, one that is concerned for Straw Hat’s continued survival (Law’s already given up on his own in exchange for his revenge), corrects that rather than kindly, it is suicidal because they are an _alliance,_ _not friends_ and Law could potentially find something they don’t know about the musician and choose not to report it, could falsify his data with something that’s not there at all, or even discover a weakness that the Straw Hat Pirates already know of and keep that in mind for after the alliance is over. They are too trusting, and while Law has already rolled the dice with Straw Hat to the point of no return, it makes him question (yet again) how good of an idea it was to make an alliance with them.

“Why?” It slips out of Law’s mouth before he can think it through.

“Eh? ‘Why’ what, Torao-san?”

Law could misdirect the question, he almost does, but the truth is, he kind of wants the answer to this anyways, so he goes through with the question. “Why _trust_ me to give you a medical check over? Our crews are in an alliance. Once it ends, anything I’ve learned about you could be turned against you all afterwards!”

Brook is silent a moment, staring at Law with empty eye sockets before responding.

“You saved my captain when I, when all on this crew, could not.”

It doesn’t even take a moment for Law to realize that the solemn musician speaks of the War, the ropey scar across Straw Hat’s chest, the incredible damage that befell the super rookie that he had treated on a whim to test the seemingly miraculous existence of his fellow D.

“I cannot thank you enough for keeping him alive. Something so simple as letting you try your hand at figuring out the workings of my body is but a start to repaying that. My captain and my crew mean _everything_ to me, Trafalgar Law-san.”

And Law was shaken by the love in those words. This man would bare his potential weaknesses before another in thanks for sparing the life of one dear to his heart. This man would die for his love and not regret it for a moment. Really, it makes trying to use Straw Hat to squeeze out that miracle he needs to put down Doflamingo seem like an ever increasingly terrible idea (and a brilliant one because desperate love has a way of making things _happen_ ).

“Besides,” Brook said, noticing the Surgeon of Death’s melancholy and trying to lighten the mood, “don’t they say that second and third opinions are a good idea with extreme medical conditions?”

“Ah, yes,” Law coughed, silently thankful for this particular change in pace (he worries the Straw Hats’ ability to change paces so quickly will eventually give him whiplash).

So Law examined Brook, buying himself some peace and quiet before the deadly gauntlet of Dressrosa. He didn’t find anything that hadn’t been noted before (there wasn’t much to find inside bones even with his Ope Ope no Mi and given that Brook had taken wounds from sword slashes on Thriller Bark, Chopper had already gotten a peek at the condition inside them), but it was nice to do a simple check-up, of sorts, for a sense of calm before the Storm he planned to bring along with his fellow possessor of the Will of D.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The idea was "Law gives Brook a look over on the way to Dressrosa because Brook is a medical mystery/miracle" and then Law's disposition for angst when not being a foil to Luffy's crazy kind of took over.


	90. Head Hunting

Well, this was a conundrum.

And by this, Brook meant the fact that he had lost his head, quite literally. A night of too much drinking after they came to a new port in the middle of some alcohol-based festival and Brook came back around with no head. It was nothing fatal for a living skeleton such as himself, but it was a hindrance. Normally, there was a little sliver of soul keeping all his bones connected (at least since he’d reclaimed them), even when forcibly separated, but right now he couldn’t reach his head and, for better or for worse, his main consciousness was in his body. Well, he could still reach his head a bit, had managed to twitch his jaw, wherever it was, but wasn’t getting much more feedback from it than that.

A couple of possibilities as to how this was possible came to mind. 1) he had managed to move far enough away from his head to strain the limit of how far his soul could connect everything. It wasn’t something he’d ever really tested considering that he usually reattached pieces as soon as possible. 2) his head was sitting in a sufficiently deep pool of standing water. It was natural instinct for Devil Fruit Users to withdraw from standing water as soon as possible, not to mention the power draining effects. 3) someone had put his missing head in contact with Kairouseki. It did have the same effect as standing water (should this be 2-b then?).

Nonetheless, he needed to find his head. Which was a bit tricky when he only had his most warped sense at his disposal.

For reasons Brook was entirely unsure of, his soul seemed to have firmly attached his senses of sight, smell, taste, and sound to his skull. He could forgive taste and smell (he didn’t need them all that much, not in this situation), but sight and sound were not good losses to take when his sense of touch was highly diluted. The truth was that Brook got little more out of his sense of touch than most would get out of poking things with a stick. The only thing more Brook could get was a sense of temperature (and he had no clue how that even worked). Besides that, it was simply experience in interpreting the data provided through his lack of nerve endings or finger pads and skin. An issue Brook had long since overcome when he learned to play his violin again in the Florian Triangle. Now he could tell whether hair was soft or stiff by the way his bones slid through it and many other subtleties of texture and firmness vibrating through something as rigid as bone.

None of which particularly helped with combing a town for his head considering that he was only aware of what was immediately touching him. Why, he could end up walking off a pier into the ocean like this!

Brook supposed he could try popping his soul out (it would restore sight and sound), but hesitated to do so since he would lose his solidity, thus his ability to actually retrieve his head, and because he wasn’t sure what would happen if he left when his body was incomplete. Losing what little connection he had with his head could cost him the whole search. Best to leave that until there wasn’t any other choice then.

So, first things first. Finding his missing head would be easiest if Brook had the help of his crew, so hopefully one of them had been helping him last night and wasn’t too far away. Carefully sitting up (he could be under a table or something), Brook began to pat the ground around him searching.

Success! He’d found someone’s… limb. Well, he had to start somewhere, right?

Brook gently ghosted his fingers up ─ah no, that was a foot, so down, then back the other way was up! Oh, there were pants, here was the edge seam… wait, check the foot again, it wouldn’t do to run his hands up the inside of someone’s leg… Waistline, exposed side, rumpled shirt, armpit. Now carefully across the chest (no need to get called out for unintentional groping) though this person seemed to be male (or a very flat girl). Gently up the neck with a quick pause to check for a pulse (a steady beat pushing against his finger bone)… oh, fuzz on the chin! If this was a crewmate, then he’d found either Sanji-san or Usopp-san (he couldn’t remember what either had been wearing last night and they could have changed clothes). Lightly over the lips to the nose… a long nose! He’d found Usopp-san! Delighted with the sure knowledge he’d found a crewmate, he gave the sleeping sniper’s nose a flick, a tried and true method for waking Usopp up.

* * *

Usopp woke up flailing because something (or someone, he knew his crew wasn’t above it) had hit his nose.

_Oops, I hit something. That felt like Brook, but he usually screams when someone wakes up flailing─_

“Brook, where’s your head!?” Usopp screeched upon noticing his nakama’s state.

Of course, having no head, Brook didn’t reply. _Did he even hear me?_

“Aaah, why me?”

It was a question Usopp felt he asked far too often after joining Luffy’s crew (not that he’d ever regretted it).

“Okay, okay. You can handle this. You’re the great God Usopp!” Usopp worked at psyching himself up. After all, it wasn’t _normal_ to have to deal with nakama _missing their head!_ “Ahaha, maybe it’s close by…”

No luck. There was no skull with a magnificent afro lying around in plain view.

Right. So the next logical step would be… to get help, right? There were only two of them ─no wait, one, Brook probably couldn’t search on his own all that well, if at all─ to search a whole town (or island), so their chances of success would increase significantly if they got the rest of the crew in on this. Now Usopp was not the strongest in the crew against alcohol, but he wasn’t the weakest either, so if Brook successfully woke him up, then some of the crew would still be passed out… wherever. All of which meant that he would not immediately find the rest of the crew by returning to the Sunny. Everyone would of course eventually return to Sunny, but _when_ they would do so was up in the air and it was probably better to not leave Brook’s head laying around somewhere for an indefinite amount of time.

Then Usopp’s eyes landed on his bag. Of course! He could try ringing up the crew on the Baby Den-den Mushi (he’d taken to keeping one in his pouch, just in case)! Not all of them carried one, but it would probably lead to rounding up the crew faster. Just as he finished fishing the small mollusk out of his bag, Brook poked him.

“Hey, don’t worry I’m just─” Brook interrupted Usopp by poking him again. So now Usopp was wondering if that was ‘no, that’s not the problem’ poke or a ‘do I have your attention yet’ poke because he honestly wasn’t sure if Brook could hear him or not and─ Another poke cut in to that internal debate and left Usopp leaning towards option two, so to assure Brook that he was awake, aware, and working to fix the problem, Usopp grabbed Brook’s hand and stuck the Baby Den-den Mushi in it before dialing the Sunny. It was best to check if someone was onboard to set up a group call.

[Hello?] Robin’s calm voice replied once the Den-den Mushi connected.

“Robin, thank goodness! We have a bit of a problem,” Usopp reported back.

[Oh?]

“Brook lost his head somehow! So if you could help me call everyone so we can find it, that’d be great.”

It took some wrangling, but they managed to get the majority of the crew on the line to organize the search. Chopper was dispatched from the Sunny (having been brought back asleep by Robin the previous night) to check Brook over and take care of their headless nakama. Nami and Sanji were going to split up to search for Brook’s head, as well as Luffy and Zoro who were also lost overnight and should be found before they destroyed something important and/or picked a fight. Franky was heading for the Sunny to coordinate the search over the Den-den Mushi and so that Robin could take to the streets and lend her many eyes and ears to the search. Once Brook was in Chopper’s custody, Usopp was going to go out searching himself.

Soon enough the swaps were made and the search was begun in earnest.

* * *

After a half hour of fruitless searching without even the slightest clue as to where the missing skull could be, Usopp was starting to think it may have been a bit of a needle in a haystack search that they’d started. After all, while Brook’s skull could come off as rather large because of the great afro attached to it, compared to a town, it wasn’t that big or obvious an item to find. And wouldn’t it just be their luck if Brook’s head had fallen into the ocean or something…

“EEEEEEEEEEEK! THERE’S A SKULL IN MY ICE CHEST!”

Usopp immediately dashed over to the gathering crowd to get a look and sure enough, there was Brook’s head at the bottom of the ice chest, his wet afro keeping the skull mostly submerged.

“Ah, ‘scuse me, pardon me, coming through,” Usopp shoved and elbowed his way through the crowd. “That’s my friend’s head and we’d like it back please!”

“What kind of twisted person puts human skulls in other people’s ice chests?!” the woman shrieked, the crowd backing away to let her at Usopp.

“Ah, you know, I’m not sure. I mean, there was lots of alcohol flowing last night, we all got pretty blitzed, and who can make sense of the drunken... mind… r-right?” Usopp squeaked toward the end. The ice chest’s owner was a burly woman and the stink eye she was giving him was rather intimidating. “Can I please just have it back, please, ma’am?”

“And use it to terrorize some other innocent soul? I think not! We’ll see this poor fellow buried properly,” she said with a harrumph.

“Okay,” Usopp meekly answered. It wasn’t ideal, but it’d be easy enough to dig Brook’s head up afterwards (if Brook didn’t freak them out into dropping his head by talking once it was out of the water). Hell, Brook might even find it a bit funny to have a grave to ‘rise’ from!

“Usooooop!”

He turned upon hearing his name called so desperately to see Chopper in Walk Point charging up the street, a headless Brook clinging to the reindeer’s back… and behind them was a mob of angry townsfolk with sharp and pointy things. Well, there went that plan (and in the back of his mind, Usopp wondered when this had become his life).

Seeing as they would not be welcome in town (or probably on the island) long enough to wait for these people to bury Brook’s head so they could dig it up again, Usopp did the logical thing and kicked the small table out from under the ice chest, people jumping out of the way of the gushing water carrying an afroed skull with it.

Usopp could practically see the moment Brook’s head was freed of the effects of water, a thick line of ethereal mist connecting the head to his body. Which was a good thing, because it was only Brook’s cry of “Duck!” that saved Usopp from taking a frying pan to the back of the head.

Shit! Now the townsfolk were after him too!

The frying pan was coming around for a second blow when Usopp found himself (happily) on the roof of a nearby building, slung over the now complete skeleton’s shoulder. At this point he didn’t even mind that Brook’s soaked afro (which smelled funny after a night in an ice chest) was getting him wet. A quick glance showed Chopper slung under Brook’s other arm.

“I believe it’s time to go, yohohoho!” Brook chortled, obviously pleased to have his head back, before sprinting across the roofs and leaving the townsfolk in their dust.

Slung over Brook’s shoulder wasn’t the most comfortable way to travel, Usopp mused, what with the way you bounced on the knobby bones with every step, but it certainly was one of the quickest. It also didn’t make it easy to talk when each step was a bit of a hit to the gut, so Usopp handed the Baby Den-den Mushi over to Chopper to let the rest of the crew know they had Brook back in one piece and it was time to go, they’d outlived their welcome.

Soon enough they were all back on the Sunny and underway, laughing that Brook’s head had ended up in an ice chest of all things and wondering how it had ended up in such a place… all the while Robin spoke not a word of now remembering being more than tipsy and wishing for an end to Brook’s drinking songs (to the drunken disappointment of those around them).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's kind of Halloween-ish? Meh, it's fun right? This one was inspired by Many Different Stories by BrightBlueSkies over on FanFiction, particularly numbers 17 and 18. And you can consider this to have happened before my chapter of Some Assembly Required.


	91. Patience and Love

The first time they encounter a thick fog after the Florian Triangle, the crew does not leave him alone and rather literally passes him off to one another, one hand clutching at his sleeve, pant leg, hand, leaving only to be near instantly replaced by another (he had quietly confessed before that touch was the one sense his delusions never fooled).

He understood why they did it, after all, there had been a few too many slips in the dark and twilit hours of the past days where he'd called the wrong names, lived the wrong years, for them not to worry what hidden reaches the fog might find, but he felt he shouldn't need them to be so overt in their reminder of the _now_.

Yet he couldn't turn away the warmth their concern wrapped him in. Loneliness was cold and impersonal, they simply were not.

In that fog, they tucked him into the bright, warm-lit places of the ship, filled them with sounds that no empty ship could provide, reminded him that he was _alive_. He was thankful that ships generally didn't have many windows to look out at the swirling miasma, that the walls’ creamy whiteness helped mask the blank white mists in those portals to the outside.

Maybe the crew's caution wasn't necessary, but it was appreciated. Next time, he thought, he would manage without being coddled like this.

Next time ended up two years later with plenty of time to fully realize _now_ and still he somehow managed to use a wrong name, needing the gentle touch and soft reminder of his new life (his true second life). That they have such patience and love for his old brokenness warms his bones like nothing else.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's no quick fix for trauma, but love and patience help.


	92. Take Me to Church

To be fair, Brook hadn’t really thought about how church-goers would react to him now that he was only bone and afro. He’d simply seen the grand old architecture that reminded him of home and wanted to see what the reliefs on the inside looked like.

If anything, it was Robin’s fault for accompanying him inside instead of stopping him (but West Blue architecture, neither had been able to resist that bit of home they hadn’t seen in years). She most certainly hadn’t helped matters when she started blooming extra limbs in front of the pious people.

So now there was a small mob chasing them (it was actually a bit fun when the other side didn’t really have the means to hurt you) and they were most certainly going to be scolded by Nami (and possibly Usopp) for the mess when they got back to the Sunny.

“Well, I suppose I now have an excuse for when someone decides they want to take me to church,” Brook laughed as they ran.

“Oh, I’m sure some religions would be rather welcoming of your appearance,” Robin replied with a smile.

“Yoho, I suppose you’re right,” Brook nervously replied. “Though I’m not sure I’d want to be welcome.” After all, the cultists of Harahetternia had been relatively mild in their practices: they sacrificed animals, not people (though he’d seen that some of their books recommended using people).

“Yes, that’s probably for the best. They’re not generally very _kind_ religions.”

Brook gulped. Really, he’d prefer a harmless mob like this a hundred times over one like that if someone was going to insist on taking him to a church.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The idea for this came from Code of Misconduct by depayser on FanFiction, particularly:
> 
> 17\. From this day on Brook is forbidden from ever setting foot into a church again.
> 
> -This rule also applies to any other religious building or meeting place.
> 
> We don't want the "resurrection of the flesh" to be taken the wrong way. -Robin
> 
> I didn't know they'd react like that. -Brook
> 
> Yes, you did! -Nami
> 
> I just thought it was a fun idea and decided to do a little something to fill it out. The world of One Piece doesn't seem to have any big/world-wide religions (not that we particularly see, anyways), but it does have the concepts of heaven, hell, and god(s) widespread enough to be used wherever (Impel Down, Skypeia, Zoro can say he doesn't believe in god/a higher power). So I just went super generic on the religion here.


	93. Let Me Borrow Him!

Pretend for a moment, if you will, that Portgas D. Ace did not die at Marineford. Or maybe that he was never captured by Blackbeard in the first place as the Straw Hats made land at Thriller Bark and instead managed to meet with his little brother again between the mists of the Florian Triangle and the heights of the Red Line. Have you got the idea? Then let’s begin.

* * *

“─and these are my new crew members: Robin, my archeologist, Franky, my shipwright, and Brook, my musician! Robin, Franky, Brook, this is my big brother, Ace!”

Greetings are passed around and Ace is gland that his little brother seems to have gotten some more experienced crew members. His life had certainly become easier after the brain trust of the Spade Pirates had been formed and age just tended to make a person more thoughtful (or they at least had the experience to navigate the trouble). The large cyborg and tall skeleton certainly added more oddity to his brother’s crew, though Ace didn’t exactly have room to talk with the Spade Pirates line-up (Fishman, Long-arm, over-sized cat, and plenty of variety in height), much less the Whitebeard Pirates one.

“─and Ace is part of the Whitebeard Pirates. The Second Division Commander, in fact.”

Franky whistles in appreciation. He knows the reputation of the crew and its Commanders. Robin is unruffled by the news, she had already known who he was, even if she hadn’t met him before. But Brook tilts his head in a way that reminds Ace quite a bit of Luffy when he’s reminded of something he’s heard but hadn’t really paid attention to before (Ace briefly wonders if the skeleton picked it up from his brother or just simply had a similar reaction).

“You might be more familiar with the captain as Edward Newgate rather than Whitebeard,” Robin says having noticed Brook’s countenance.

“Edward Newgate…” the musician mumbles, considering the name. “Oh, yes! I think I remember reading about a rookie with that name!”

Ace does a spit take (and what a waste of a delicious drink, part of him mourns) because _Oyaji_ and _rookie_ don’t exactly mesh like that. No disrespect to his own captain, but Oyaji is pretty old, more grandfather age to some of the crew than father (Ace tries not to think about how his biological father would be roughly the same age while his mother probably _wasn’t_ ), so…

“Just how old are you!?” Ace blurts out. He may have taken Makino’s lessons in manners better than Luffy, but he was still raised wild by bandits.

“Yohohoho, I’m near ninety years old, young man.” Ace can hear a near conspiratorial wink in those words.

And that means the man is at least a decade Oyaji’s senior, Ace doesn’t even need to do math. His mind races.

“Luffy, I have a special mission and I need to borrow your musician for it.”

“No! Brook’s _my_ musician!” Luffy immediately refutes, climbing onto said musician and wrapping his limbs around the slender frame several times as if that would settle it (Brook doesn’t seem to mind if the pat to Luffy’s head resting upon his boney shoulder is any indication).

“Come on. It’ll only be for a little─”

“No!”

“Let me borrow him!”

“No!”

“Come on!”

Ace really needed that ancient musician for the biggest prank in the history of the Whitebeard Pirates (probably). After all, this was a fellow _human_ pirate that could in fact call Oyaji ‘brat’ and have it be true. Besides, it wasn’t like he was going to _keep_ his brother’s musician (though maybe… no, no, bad Ace!)

Ace tries getting some of Luffy’s crew on his side, which turns about to be a _mistake_. The navigator seems absolutely thrilled to lend out the musician… for a frankly ridiculous price. Division Commander though he may be, Ace is not made of money (mostly because Deuce heavily disapproves of his dining-and-dashing habit and gets hold of his captain’s wallet often enough to actually pay for the food).

In the end, Ace does not get to borrow the old musician. He does however wring a promise out of his little brother and his crew that he will get use of the musician when they finally encounter each other crew to crew. Ace hasn’t given up seeing the look on Oyaji’s face at being called brat yet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Come on, don't you wonder how Whitebeard would react to that in his old age? Details on the Spades come from the first novel A(ce).


	94. Frost

Ah, Brook had forgotten how boring the night watch could get, sitting alone up in the crow's nest. At least the moon was bright tonight, shining on the gentle waves...

Boring.

Brook let out a lamenting sigh, breath fogging over on the window.

Oh, not boring.

He brought a finger up and started to sketch a quick smiley face in the condensation on the glass, but well, bone wasn't quite so good a drawing utensil given the slight scratching screech it made as he wiped the moisture away. But it did spark a new idea...

* * *

When the crew woke up the next morning, they found all the windows frosted over in drawings and whimsical designs. Even the mast and figure head had been given a layer of swirling frost and the way it glistened in the morning light was magical. Luffy and Chopper scrambled around the ship to see all the frost pictures painted over the ship and Usopp sat down with a sketch book to capture them before the sunlight melted the delicate art.

Brook just hummed, happy that his crew liked his midnight drawings.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's the holiday season and while One Piece doesn't have a Jack Frost, they do have a Brook with ice powers, so a little whimsy on a boring night.


	95. Backup Plans

“What are you doing, Brook-san?” Jinbe asks, taking notice of the skeleton working on something as the rest of the Sanji Rescue Party fell asleep.

“The backup plan, Jinbe-san,” Brook replies, still humming soothingly for the sleepers. The more peaceful their sleep, the more energy they’ll recover.

“Backup plan? You don’t think Luffy-kun’s plan will work?” Jinbe was surprised that the musician was doubting his captain.

“Oh no, no. Luffy-san came up with a sound plan, they certainly won’t see him coming. However, Luffy-san and stealth don’t really mix.”

“Oh?”

“Our dear captain is a very straight forward man who believes in a certain sense of fighting fair. If Big Mom calls him out in challenge, he will answer,” Brook calmly explains, glancing to his sleeping captain.

“Making all the distraction useless if that happens before he destroys the portrait,” Jinbe concludes, looking to the young captain himself and storing that bit of information about his future captain away.

“Indeed. So if Luffy-san gets caught out before then, I’ll do it.”

Jinbe splutters. “You?!”

Brook hums in affirmation. “It would have to be Nami-san or myself as we’re the ones who specialize in stealth. I would be the better option in this case as I can get away faster and if that fails, I am quite hard to kill, given that I’m already dead.” The skeleton musician lets out a dry laugh. “Though if I’m honest, I _want_ to do this. Not only has Big Mom tried to steal one of ours and kill him along with the rest of us, but she has terrorized Fishman Island which is home for some of our friends and I must say that I did not care for her treatment of me at all. I am not a doll or trophy to be toted around!” He clenched the marker in his hand, frost starting to spread with a crackle.

Jinbe gently patted the skeleton’s shoulder, ignoring how it was so cold. “No, you are not,” Jinbe reassured him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is a little pre-Tea Party drabble that I've had sitting around. I thought I wanted to make it longer, but then realized it works as is.


	96. Bedtime Stories

There’s no denying that on the Thousand Sunny, Usopp is the master storyteller. Whether it’s an excuse, a bit of midafternoon entertainment, or bedtime stories, Usopp is the undisputed king of story weaving.

But there are nights where Usopp lets the other crew members have their hand at bedtime stories. And on those nights it quickly becomes Brook’s turn to tell stories, after all the musician has a rich voice, capable of putting as much soul into telling a bedtime story as singing any song. He often reads something selected from Robin’s books of mythos and legends, but sometimes they are old stories from a country he has not seen in sixty years.

These are the stories Robin and Usopp take special note of. Brook doesn’t talk much about his first life (he’s much more interested in his present one), though he’ll answer questions if asked, but these largely unsolicited looks into his past (his childhood, maybe?) provided by the old stories are all the more special for it.

_Do you know why whales sing?_

_No?_

_It all started long ago, when the waves were wild and free. There was a young man named Will who was in love with a girl named Luna, for she was as beautiful as the moon. She returned young Will’s love and every day Will saw her, he would sing his love to fair Luna:_

_I love you past the horizon_

_Beyond the farthest seas_

_I’ll love you for forever and a day_

_I love you up the mountains_

_Above the highest clouds_

_I’ll love you for forever and a day_

_I love you into the sea_

_Down the greatest depths_

_I’ll love you for forever and a day_

_I love you by the garden gate_

_Wherever you may be_

_I’ll love you for forever and a day_

_However, Will was a sailor and long would he be gone from fair Luna’s side. Still, she loved him, and so she faithfully waited for him to return from every voyage._

_One day tragedy struck, and in a storm, Will was cast from his ship. He drifted for days, clinging to hope that he would be found, and if not, he was determined to die with his love for Luna upon his lips._

_I love you past the horizon_

_Beyond the farthest seas_

_I’ll love you for forever and a day_

_I love you up the mountains_

_Above the highest clouds_

_I’ll love you for forever and a day_

_I love you into the sea_

_Down the greatest depths_

_I’ll love you for forever and a day_

_I love you by the garden gate_

_Wherever you may be_

_I’ll love you for forever and a day_

_Will was in luck, for his singing attracted a great whale as large as an island! The whale liked his song and so it allowed Will to ride upon its back, following Will’s song back to Luna. The journey was long and arduous, for love must be fought for, but that is also a different story._

_While Will was gone, his ship made it back and the other sailors upon it told fair Luna that her love was lost to the sea. Luna was distraught and in her sorrow she took a small boat out to sea to find her lover or let the waves take her as they had him. for days she searched, heading farther and farther out to sea. On the ninth day she heard it:_

_I love you past the horizon_

_Beyond the farthest seas_

_I’ll love you for forever and a day_

_I love you up the mountains_

_Above the highest clouds_

_I’ll love you for forever and a day_

_I love you into the sea_

_Down the greatest depths_

_I’ll love you for forever and a day_

_I love you by the garden gate_

_Wherever you may be_

_I’ll love you for forever and a day_

_Looking about frantically for her Will, she spotted him upon the great whale. He had never stopped singing his love for her and so his song brought him back to her arms and there was much rejoicing._

_Having seen the power of Will’s song, the great whale decided to teach others to sing so that all whales may learn and always find those they are separated from._

_Whales sing so that they may never be lost or separated from one another._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Brook's got a nice voice, tell me you wouldn't sit there and listen to him read stories if you could. Probably not my best folk-story-thing, but it works okay (and of course Brook would tell one with whales and songs in it).


	97. 骨ダンスのうた Bone Dance Song

Brook: My new song, Bone Song.

Zoro: Bone Song?

B: Bone _Dance_ Song.

Z: Is there really such a thing?

B: I made it.

Z: You made it (lol)

B: Everyone give it a try, it's an easy song. Alright, ready?

Z: Alright, I'll give it a try.

B: Yup.

* * *

Bone Bone Bone Bone Boooone Bone

Bone Bone Bone Bone Boooone Bone

(Z: That's pretty amazing)

Bone Bone Bone Bone Boooone Bone

This is a dance for broken bones

And if your bones are really broken, you're in a pinch

Hai!

Bone Bone Bone Bone Boooone Bone

Hai!

Bone Bone Bone Bone Boooone Bone

With a cicada's voice sunk into your bones

Surely people's affection will soak in as well

Hai!

Bone Bone Bone Bone Boooone Bone

Bone Bone Bone Bone Boooone Bone

Boooooone!

Booooooooooone!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is my transcription for part of the ONE PIECE公式YouTubeチャンネル video where Chou-san (Brook's VA) and Nakai-san (Zoro's VA) do a VTuber bit as Brook and Zoro. Basically they did motion capture to their character's models. This is from part 2 for that pair and it's absolutely hilarious (there's also one for/by Usopp and Luffy).
> 
> I seriously hope that Oda uses this song or it gets thrown in the anime somewhere, dance and all, because while Zoro might not be game for it in canon, Luffy, Usopp, Chopper, and maybe Franky totally would.


	98. Reversal

“You know, you’re the reason I’m a part of the guard here,” the young man said, looking at the pirate prisoner with contempt.

“Good for you, it seems you’ve come into good fortune serving the people,” the pirate happily congratulated him.

“I─ Just why!? I thought being a soldier was the right life, yet here you are a pirate!”

The tall pirate shrugged. “It’s not that I particularly chose to be a pirate, it just happened, if you must know. I really do applaud you for the turnaround you’ve achieved.”

Really, the young guard was just disconcerted by the pirate’s conduct. Here was a man who once served as a royal soldier (if for a different kingdom than the one they were currently in) who had spared a lowly pirate cabin boy for the chance to quit piracy like the boy had cried, yet now he was a pirate himself and that boy had arrested him. What do you do when your hero has become the villain?

“I won’t save you like you did me,” the boy stated. “I can’t, even if I owe you my life for a situation just like this one.”

“It’s time,” another guard said, coming in with a third guard to take the pirate to the execution platform.

“Our roles may be reversed, but there are differences, you know,” the pirate said as one of the guards entered his cell, unlocking his manacles from the wall.

“Firstly,” the pirate’s hand whipped up, slamming the hilt of a dagger stolen from the guard’s waist into the owner’s head and knocking him out, “I am no wet-behind-the-ears boy.”

He stepped around the unconscious body and the two remaining guards reached for their swords.

“Secondly,” the swords came free with a rasp, “I am not alone.”

The third guard slammed the hilt of his blade into the young guard’s head, rendering him unconscious as well.

“You’re a sight for sore eyes, Finnigan-san.”

“I’m surprised you could pick me out with the helmet on, Brook-san,” the false guard replied, flipping up the visor.

“It wasn’t a bad impersonation, but soldiers tend to walk a bit more in sync than you were,” Brook replied as Finnigan unlocked his handcuffs. “Also, you didn’t tuck the guard shirt in correctly under the armor. I do hope the man you borrowed it from is alright?”

“Well enough, sir. He seemed to be suffering a mother of a hangover, so I ‘spect he’s rather enjoyin’ being unconscious ‘bout now.”

“Yohoho, you may be right. You have a couple of the boys getting my things out of lock up?”

“Yessir. Knew you wouldn’t leave without that sword of yours and the Captain would have our heads if we left without you.”

“Then we’d best be making our escape!”

Brook would one day look back on this escape fondly and wonder why the Straw Hats couldn’t do something so cleanly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I give you a gentlemanly badass Brook. The idea was for there to be a reversal of roles with the kid from the earlier chapter "This is Not Justice" considering that it's really something that Brook went from soldier against pirates to pirate himself and well, if Brook was getting out, might as well make it cool, right?


End file.
